On October 11, 2025, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1319 into law. AB 1319 creates a swift, state-level response mechanism if Federal Endangered Species Act (FESA) protections are decreased for species native to...more
The California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) on October 8 granted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) a six-month extension to complete its status review of the March 5, 2024 petition to list the...more
At its October 8, 2025, meeting, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) granted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) a six-month extension to complete its status review of the March 5, 2024,...more
At its August 13-14 meeting, the California Fish and Game Commission (the Commission) unanimously determined that a petition to list the Quino checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha quino) (QCB) as endangered throughout its...more
The California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) took final action to approve the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan (Conservation Plan) at its August 13, 2025, meeting. As detailed in our previous alert, the...more
The California Fish and Game Commission took final action to approve the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan at its August 13, 2025 meeting. The Conservation Plan sets forth management practices and guidelines for the...more
On October 10, 2024, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) unanimously voted to designate the western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) as a candidate species under the California Endangered Species...more
On April 2, 2025, California’s Fifth Appellate District issued a decision in Bring Back the Kern v. City of Bakersfield (April 2, 2025, F087487) (2025 WL 98443). The Court held the “self-executing” reasonableness requirement...more
The California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) accepted public comment on the draft Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan (Draft Conservation Plan) at its February 12, 2025 meeting, but no formal action was taken. As...more
On December 12, 2024, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife released its draft Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan (Draft Conservation Plan) to the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission), as required by...more
On December 12, 2024, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) released its draft Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan (Draft Conservation Plan) to the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission), as...more
SB 684, which took effect on July 1 of this year, provides for streamlined, ministerial processing of certain residential projects in multifamily zoning districts consisting of no more than 10 single-family homes. The law...more
At its Oct. 9-–10, 2024, meeting in Sacramento, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) unanimously voted to make the western burrowing owl a “candidate” species under the California Endangered Species Act...more
The western burrowing owl was just recently elevated to a “candidate species” under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). As a candidate species, the owl now...more
At its October 10 meeting, the California Fish and Game Commission (the Commission) unanimously found that a petition to list the western burrowing owl as an endangered or threatened species in California provides sufficient...more
The western burrowing owl secured temporary protection this Thursday under California’s Endangered Species Act. The state Fish and Game Commission voted to give the owls candidate status and temporary protection, expected to...more
California is a biologically confused state. Section 45 of the California Fish & Game Code defines "fish" to mean a "wild fish, mollusk, crustacean, invertebrate, amphibian, or part, spawn, or ovum of any of those animals". ...more
As detailed in our previous Legal Alert, six conservation groups filed a petition with the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) on March 5, 2024 to request the implementation of legal protections for five...more
Chemical and manufacturing groups sued the federal government on Monday over a landmark drinking water standard that would require cleanup of certain PFAS, so-called forever chemicals, which have been linked to cancer and...more
A California Supreme Court ruling will allow student housing at University of California to be built at Berkeley's historic People's Park. In February 2023, a state appeals court in San Francisco had sided with the opponents,...more
The California Independent System Operator’s board on May 23 approved a $6.1 billion, 10-year transmission plan that includes projects to deliver offshore wind to customers. Transmission projects to access clean energy...more
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)...more
In June, I and many others took note of an opinion issued by the California Court of Appeal that concluded a bumble bee could be designated as a fish as defined by Section 45 of the California Fish & Game Code. Almond All. of...more