Endangered Species Law & Policy

As previously reported, on December 6, the Biden Administration published the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda), outlining the various regulatory and deregulatory actions the Biden Administration plans to take in the near future. Among the Unified Agenda entries are numerous U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) actions to propose or finalize endangered and threatened species listings and critical habitat designations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Below is a sampling of potential species listings and critical ...

On April 13, 2023, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) published a proposed rule to revise the critical habitat designation for the rufa red knot (Calidris canutus rufa). The red knot is a shorebird that migrates annually between the Canadian Arctic and wintering regions to the south, including the Southeast United States, the Northeast Gulf of Mexico, northern Brazil, and Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. During both northbound (spring) and southbound (fall) migrations, red knots use key staging and stopover areas to rest and feed.  

The ...

Although there were some notable downperiods when it came to Endangered Species Act news over the past twelve months, the past few weeks have been anything but slow.  Below are a few of the more recent newsworthy items that have rolled off the presses:

December 11, 2014 - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issues a final rule listing the rufa red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) as a threatened species.  The rufa red knot is a migratory shorebird that breeds in the Canadian Artic, and winters in parts of the United States, the Carribean, and South America.  The final rule states that the ...