Service significantly reduces critical habitat for the bighorn sheep

In 2005, PLF attorneys, representing a coalition of home builders and others, joined a lawsuit filed by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians challenging the 2001 critical habitat designation for the bighorn sheep.  The Service agreed to settle the suit and redo the designation, and the Service issued the new designation earlier this week.  This latest version reduces the sheep's habitat by half, confirming that the Service's methodology for the original designation was far from robust.  Read more in the AP article.