Endangered Species Law & Policy

On February 12, 2026, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) voted 3-0 to list mountain lions (Puma concolor) in Southern and Central California as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).  The listing decision is based on concerns that the mountain lion population in Southern and Central California could become extinct in the foreseeable future due to fragmented habitat, barriers to movement, and human removal.  Mountain lions are now protected from take without a permit in the affected region, which includes the counties of Ventura, Los ...

On March 5, 2024, the Center for Biological Diversity and several other groups submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission (the Commission) to list the western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) as endangered or threatened pursuant to the California Endangered Species Act. The petition identifies five separate populations (or evolutionarily significant units (ESUs)) of burrowing owls and petitions to list three as endangered and two as threatened. Alternatively, the petition requests that the Commission consider either (i) listing a greater ...

I recently authored an article for Law360 on the impact of SB 147, which was signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 10, 2023, and amends California's "fully protected species" statutes. These laws were enacted in 1970, and currently protect 37 species native to California, ranging from the massive North Pacific right whale to the diminutive salt marsh harvest mouse.

The amendments create a temporary, 10-year permitting regime that allows proponents of a limited, defined set of projects to pursue authorization from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife ...

Join us on March 29, 2022, when we will participate in the 2022 Annual AGWT-AGWA California Groundwater Issues Conference in Lakewood, CA, hosted by American Ground Water Trust and Association of Ground Water Agencies.

We will be providing a presentation entitled “The New Endangered Species ‘Protection’ Requirements for Steelhead Trout Will Impact Water Managers’ Options and Groundwater Sustainability Plans.” During this session, we will discuss how the new California endangered species listing will affect operations from Santa Maria, in the central ...