Articles

Author: Reed Hopper On Friday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that "the greater sage-grouse warrants the protection of the Endangered Species Act but that listing the species at this time is precluded by the need to address higher priority species first."  In reality, this decision may be based more on a recogniti ...

Author: Reed Hopper In 2005, Pacific Legal Foundation sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to conduct mandatory 5-year status reviews for approximately 100 California species listed as "threatened" or "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act. The purpose of these reviews is to determine if a species’ st ...

Author: Reed Hopper Ever wonder how those massive logging restrictions in the Pacific Northwest panned out for the endangered spotted owl?  Political AP has an interesting article that answers that question:  After 20 Years of Protection, Owls are Declining but Forests Remain.  "Nothing we do seems to work for the spotted owl ...

Author:  Reed Hopper Under the ESA, the Service is required to review the status of listed species every five years to determine if less or more protections are required.  Unfortunately, this is a task the Service rarely performs, except under duress.  Pacific Legal Foundation has had to compel these 5-year status reviews for lite ...

Author: Reed Hopper Builder magazine reports: Last week’s announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—that it would consider reclassifying the wood stork, a wading bird often found in South Florida’s Everglades, as "threatened" from its current "endangered" status—is the culmination of nearly five years of ...

Author: Reed Hopper After months of preparation, 15 attorneys (including myself) were sitting in the D.C. District Court last Wednesday to finally argue the much anticipated listing challenges to the polar bear.  Although the overall polar bear population is the highest in recorded history and there is no current or immediate precipitous decl ...

Author: Reed Hopper Although U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists have recommended reclassifying the wood stork from endangered to threatened because the stork's range and population have doubled in recent years, activists rage over the Florida Home Builders' request that the Service take action on its own recommendation. Rather than&# ...

Author: Reed Hopper On October 21, the day after the first hearing on the listing challenge to the polar bear, the Pacific Legal Foundation and the Heritage Foundation co-sponsored a panel discussion on the polar bear, the Endangered Species Act, and the implications for our country.    The United States Fish and Wildlife Service, at & ...

Author: Reed Hopper As we noted in our Oct 25 post, What's it all mean?, the D.C. District Court has rescheduled oral argument in the listing challenge to the polar bear.  The new date is February 23, 2011.  This is to allow time for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to offer an interpretation of the term … ...