News on the gnatcatcher

Author:  Damien M. Schiff

Here's a sampling of coverage on our lawsuit filed last week challenging the US Fish and Wildlife Service's failure to issue a timely initial finding on PLF's petition to remove the gnatcatcher from the list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.  And just to keep things fair and balanced, here's a not-so-nice commentary on our lawsuit.

The Service is quoted in one of these articles as saying that it has already begun work on responding to the petition but hasn't had time to complete that response given other "higher" priorities.  It's difficult to imagine what could be a higher priority in these economic times than determining whether the gnatcatcher needs ESA protection, given that the Service itself has estimated that the costs attributable to such protections could approach $1 billion through 2025.