The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) anticipates releasing the Draft Designation Documents for the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.
A draft proposed rule and management plan for...more
6/30/2023
/ Critical Habitat ,
Endangered Species ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
Marine Life Protections ,
Native American Issues ,
NEPA ,
NOAA ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Tribal Governments ,
Tribal Lands
On April 29, 2019, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-10-19 (EO) directing the California Natural Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the California Department of Food and Agriculture...more
5/8/2019
/ Climate Change ,
Delta Smelt ,
Endangered Species ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Governor Newsom ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
Natural Resources ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
Water Management ,
Water Supplies
On October 16, 2018, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Center for Food Safety submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) to list the Crotch...more
On August 23, 2018, the California Fish and Game Commission (“Commission”) listed the Humboldt marten (Marten caurina humboldtensis) as an endangered species under the California Endangered Species Act (“CESA”). The...more
In the Fall 2017 publication of the Unified Agenda of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the Department of the Interior announced its intent to revise the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s regulations governing...more
12/22/2017
/ Conservation ,
Critical Habitat ,
Department of the Interior ,
Deregulation ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
ESA Listings ,
Executive Orders ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
On September 20, 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”) listed three separate species under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). USFWS listed the Sonoyta mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense) as endangered, and the...more
Battle lines are being drawn in connection with ongoing efforts by lawmakers to reform the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). In a letter addressed to the leaders of both houses of Congress, the Senate Environmental and Public...more
On April 11, 2017, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) held in Carpenters Industrial Council v. Zinke, 2017 U.S.App.LEXIS 6175, that a lumber company trade...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) recently published a positive 90-day finding on a petition to list the Lesser Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) and three distinct population segments as endangered...more
On August 25, 2016, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) voted unanimously to list the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act. ...more
8/31/2016
/ California Fish and Game Commission ,
Conservation ,
Critical Habitat ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
ESA Listings ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
Marijuana ,
Timber ,
Wildfires
On July 27, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”) published a Federal Register notice of its final Methodology for Prioritizing Status Reviews and Accompanying 12-Month Findings on Petitions for Listing Species...more
On June 3, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held in Friends of Animals v. Jewell (No. 1:14-cv-00357) that Plaintiff Friends of Animals (“Plaintiff”) had Article III standing to pursue a constitutional...more
6/7/2016
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Article III ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
ESA Listings ,
Incidental Take Permits ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Section 9 ,
Standing ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
On April 28, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued a revised Biological Opinion and Incidental Take Permit for the Rosemont Copper Mine in Pima County, Arizona. USFWS originally issued a Biological Opinion...more
On March 15, 2016, in Alaska Oil & Gas Association v. National Marine Fisheries Service, case number 4:14-cv-00029-RRB, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska vacated a final regulation promulgated by the National...more
In a notice published on October 8, 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced its proposed 12-month finding on the Center for Biological Diversity’s (CBD) petition to list the Sierra Nevada red fox (Vulpes...more
Last week, Washington State Representative Dan Newhouse introduced the “Pacific Northwest Gray Wolf Management Act” (H.R. 1985), which would remove Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection for the gray wolf (Canis lupus)...more