Endangered Species Law & Policy

On August 1, 2025, the Senate approved Brian Nesvik, President Trump’s nominee for Director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service). The Service shares responsibility for administering the Endangered Species Act of 1973 with the National Marine Fisheries Service within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Mr. Nesvik has decades of experience working for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and rose to the position of Director of the Department in 2019. He served in that position until 2024. Mr. Nesvik also served in the Wyoming Army National Guard ...

On Tuesday, September 26, President Biden vetoed two Republican-sponsored joint resolutions, S.J. Res. 9 and S.J. Res. 24, seeking to undo Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for the lesser prairie-chicken (LEPC) (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) and northern long-eared bat (NLEB) (Myotis septentrionalis) that became effective in January 2023.

S.J. Res. 9 would have undone the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) final rule listing the Northern distinct population segment (DPS) of the LEPC as threatened with a section 4(d) rule and the Southern DPS as endangered ...

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced a bill last week to help address ongoing and future drought in California. The bill, known as the California Emergency Drought Relief Act (Act), is expected to be folded into broader legislation addressing the historic drought in the Western United States. The bill’s goals are to move existing water supplies and develop new  water sources in order to help those communities suffering the worst effects of the drought, while complying with the existing regulatory regime under the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act. Senator ...