Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
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In a widely watched case, the Sacramento Superior Court court ruled that insects are not eligible for listing under the California Endangered Species Act. Almond Alliance of California v. California Department of Fish and...more
The Sacramento Superior Court upheld a challenge to a decision by the California Fish and Game Commission to designate four subspecies of bumble bees as candidates for protection under the California Endangered Species Act...more
In the latest decision in the long-running legal saga over the proposed Newhall Ranch development in Los Angeles County, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the Army Corps of Engineers’ EIS and Section 404...more
At its February 9, 2018 meeting, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission (the “Commission”) voted to “uplist” the marbled murrelet’s status from a threatened to an endangered species by a 4-2 margin. The marbled murrelet is a...more
On October 17, 2017, the California Fish and Game Commission (“Commission”) published notice of its preliminary positive finding on a petition to list the Cascades frog (Rana cascadae) as threatened or endangered under the...more
On November 9, 2015, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission (Commission) voted to remove the gray wolf (Canis lupus) from protection under the Oregon Endangered Species Act. The Commission meeting lasted almost 10 hours,...more
On October 29, 2015, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced that it believes that the gray wolf (Canis lupus) has met the criteria to be delisted from the state Endangered Species Act (Oregon ESA). Under...more
On September 2, 2015, the California Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case involving fully protected species that may have important state-wide implications. (Center for Biological Diversity v. Department of Fish and...more
On August 11, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California struck down the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s so-called “30-Year Rule,” which had extended from 5 years to 30 years the duration of...more
Thursday, in response to a petition to list filed by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) in October 2014, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) determined not to make the tricolored blackbird (agelaius...more
The Massachusetts Endangered Species Act, or MESA, is similar in some respects to the federal ESA, but is definitely its own kettle of (endangered) fish. Indeed, after the decision by the Supreme Judicial Court yesterday in...more
Yesterday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued two proposed rules for the Vandenberg monkeyflower (Diplacus vandenbergensis), a small annual herb only known to occur at nine locations in western Santa Barbara County. ...more
The Trinity River Hatchery, which is operated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and funded by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, has a production capacity of approximately 40 million salmonid eggs....more
On May 6, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposed a limited exception to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections currently being considered for the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus)....more
On March 13, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) extended the public comment period for two proposed rules relating to the Gunnison sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus). As we previously reported, the Service...more
On February 26, in a reprise of its partially successful assault on Oregon water quality standards, Northwest Environmental Advocates sent a Notice of Intent to Sue EPA for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) recently proposed to remove the island night lizard (Xantusia riversiana) from its current listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposed removal is...more
Yesterday, a Republican Senator from Texas, John Cornyn, introduced a bill that would prohibit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from settling environmental lawsuits without first publishing the complaint "in a readily...more
On February 20, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a final special rule to manage the polar bear (Ursus maritimus), which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The rule...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) designated approximately 9,600 acres as critical habitat for the endangered Coachella Valley milk vetch (Astragalus lentifinosus var. coachellae). The critical habitat designation...more
On February 6, 2013, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) voted to make the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) a candidate for protection under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). The...more
In Sierra Club v. Kenna, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4743, *1 (January 11, 2013), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California upheld the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) grant of right-of-way over...more
On February 1, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its proposal to list the wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The proposed listing is the result of a...more
On January 25, 2013, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a proposed rule to list the Zuni bluehead sucker (Catostomus discobolus yarrowi) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The...more
On January 10, 2013, the United States District Court for the District of Alaska issued an order vacating the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's critical habitat designation for the polar bear after concluding that the Service...more