Endangered Species Law & Policy

On August 5, the United States District Court for the District of Montana issued an order overturning a determination made by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) during the Biden administration that listing the gray wolf (Canis lupus) in the western United States is not warranted and remanded the issue back to the Service for further consideration. The Service made the determination in response to two petitions to list separate wolf populations: one covering the Northern Rocky Mountains (the Northern Rocky Mountain population) and one covering the western United States (the ...

On April 15, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana issued an order that could impact energy and development projects across the United States. The court granted partial summary judgment in favor of plaintiff the Northern Plains Resource Council (“NPRC”) in a case concerning challenges to the Keystone XL Pipeline.  While the case mostly focused on the permitting for this particular pipeline, the nature of the claims raised resulted in broader implications for nationwide permit (“NWP”) 12, an important nationwide permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of ...

On August 6, 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a 90-day finding that listing the Yellowstone Park bison (Bison bison bison) under the Endangered Species Act is not warranted. FWS also found that listing the Mojave poppy bee (Perdita meconis) and revising the critical habitat designation for the endangered Mount Graham red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis) may be warranted ...

As we previously reported, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has proposed to list the Gunnison sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus) and the Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) as endangered and threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, and to designate millions of acres of land as critical habitat for the species.  (See our prior posts on January 23, 2013 and October 29, 2013.)  Because of the controversy surrounding the proposed listings and designations, the Service has extended the comment period on the proposals to ensure that the public has ...