Articles

Last week, we sent the Fish and Wildlife Service another notice of intent to file suit.  This time, the matter involves the protected status of the wood stork, a bird that is increasingly common in South Florida. In 2007, PLF won a lawsuit representing the Florida Home Builders Association, which required the FWS to do long overdue, legally mandate ...

Earlier this week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service re-opened the comment period and extended the deadline for acting on the agency's proposal to list a distinct population segment of the North American wolverine under the Endangered Species Act.  Generally, the ESA requires that the Service finalize a listing proposal within one year, but the Ac ...

One of the most important provisions of the Endangered Species Act is Section 7, which requires, inter alia, that federal agencies ensure that their discretionary actions do not jeopardize the continued existence of any listed species, or adversely modify its critical habitat.  The provision also requires federal agencies to consult with the Nation ...

Last year, a Pacific Legal Foundation lawsuit led to a long overdue proposal from the Fish and Wildlife Service to delist the Valley elderberry longhorn beetle from the Endangered Species Act.  Yesterday, the Service announced that it was extending the comment period on the proposed delisting for 30 days.  Also, the Service noted that the peer revi ...

Yesterday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced its intent to downlist the wood stork from endangered to threatened. This comes after years of arm-twisting by PLF and its client, the Florida Homebuilders Association (FHA), to get the Service to abide by its statutory duty to review species on the endangered and threatened lists, t ...

In a long overdue and welcome development, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has finally proposed to delist the beetle from the Endangered Species Act.  This finding is a direct result of the lawsuit that PLF filed on behalf of landowners, farm bureaus, and flood districts in the Sacramento Valley who have been burdened for decades by ESA protection ...

Author:  Damien M. Schiff As part of an unfortunate pattern, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed an expanded critical habitat designation, under the Endangered Species Act, for the western snowy plover, a small coastal bird.  In 1999, the Service designated nearly 20,000 acres of critical habitat for the bird in Ca ...

Author:  Damien M. Schiff One of the most litigated-over species in the Southwest has been the flat-tailed horned lizard.  First noted as a species at risk by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in the early 1980s, the species was ultimately formally proposed for listing in 1993.  Fast forward nearly twenty years, and two appella ...

Author:  Damien M. Schiff Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final critical habitat designation for the polar bear.  The designation covers over 180,000 square miles.  Yet the Service estimates that the economic impact of the designation, over a 29-year period, will amount to less than $700,000 total, or just $54,00 ...