Environmental Law

FWS delays designation of critical habitat for marbled murrelet, awaiting completion of Bureau of Land Management plans

Posted on March 06, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 12067 (Mar. 6, 2008)(Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for the Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus)) Photo from FWS SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and ...

FWS revises proposed critical habitat for Hawaiian picture wing flies

Posted on March 06, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 12065 (Mar. 6, 2008)(Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revised Proposed Designation of Critical Habitat for 12 Species of Picture-Wing Flies From the Hawaiian Islands) Photo from FWS SUMMARY: ....

NOAA lists North Pacific and North Atlantic Right Whales as endangered; and corrects critical habitat designation for threatened Elkhorn and Staghorn corals

Posted on March 06, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 12024 (Mar. 6, 2008)(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Endangered and Threatened Species; Endangered Status for North Pacific and North Atlantic Right Whales).     Photos of right whales available from ...

FWS announces 5-year status reviews

Posted on March 05, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 11945 (Mar. 5, 2008)(Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Initiation of 5-Year Reviews of 58 Species in California and Nevada; Availability of Completed 5-Year Reviews in California, Nevada and Southern Oregon) click here for ....

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NOAA seeks comments on potential listing of loggerhead sea turtles

Posted on March 05, 2008
73 Fed. Reg 11849- (March 5, 2008)(Listing Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Designating Critical Habitat; 90-day Finding for a Petition to Reclassify the Loggerhead Turtle in the Western North Atlantic Ocean) click here for pdf SUMMARY: We, ...

NOAA announces revised recovery plan for Steller's sea lion

Posted on March 05, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 11872 (Mar. 5, 2008)(Endangered and Threatened Species; Revised Recovery Plan for Distinct Population Segments of Steller Sea Lion) SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces the availability of the Final Revised ...

An Endangered Species Act Glossary

Posted on March 03, 2008
So, you've been reading this blawg, but realized that you still don't know some of the terminology of the Endangered Species Act?  No worries! This page, its internal links, and the left column links on the ESAblawg Home Page (see Notable ESA ...

Polar bears ? an unfortunate policy proxy.

Posted on March 02, 2008
Stakeholders continue to debate whether or not the Bush Administration should list the polar bear as a threatened species.  See FWS proposed rule.  But the reason for the intense discussion of this topic is the potential for the ESA's powerful ...

FWS proposes revised Lynx habitat

Posted on February 28, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 10860 (Feb. 28, 2008)(Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revised Critical Habitat for the Contiguous United States Distinct Population Segment of the Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis)) SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ...

FWS "delists" a segment of the wolf population

Posted on February 27, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 10514-10560 (Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Rule Designating the Northern Rocky Mountain Population of Gray Wolf as a Distinct Population Segment and Removing This Distinct Population Segment From the Federal List ....

FWS announces status review on Sage Grouse, and two new Habitat Conservation Plans make news

Posted on February 26, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 10218-10219 (Feb. 26, 2008) (Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Initiation of Status Review for the Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) as Threatened or Endangered) SUMMARY: “We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ...

Panthers vs. ORVs

Posted on February 25, 2008
From the Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008 Palm Beach Post...Panther Safety at heart of fight over off-road vehicles. "Off-road vehicles were prohibited in 2000 in much of the region north of Interstate 75, known as Alligator Alley. But preserve ...

Case summaries: owls critical habitat, RICO-related elephants, delta smelt (yet again), and butterflies

Posted on February 25, 2008
Arizona Cattle Growers Association v. Kempthorne, 2008 WL 435488 (D.Ariz., Feb. 4, 2008)(upholding Mexican spotted owl critical habitat designation by FWS). BACKGROUND: This case arose from the Fish and Wildlife Service's promulgation of the Final ...

FWS proposes "non-essential experimental population" of Rio Grande silvery minnows (yes, I'll explain...)

Posted on February 24, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 9755-9756 (Feb. 22, 2008)(Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Establishment of a Nonessential Experimental Population of Rio Grande Silvery Minnow in the Big Bend Reach of the Rio Grande in Texas) SUMMARY: "We, the U.S. ...

ESAblawg gets write up in the Palm Beach Post online

Posted on February 22, 2008
From Seeing Green, with Christine Stapleton, on PalmBeachPost.com Green Day: February 22, 2008, 08:30 AM Forget how you feel about lawyers. Today, check out ESAblawg.com - “A legal blog promoting thoughtful discussion of the Endangered Species ...

Why bother blawging...?

Posted on February 22, 2008
So why do I bother blawging?  After all, pessimism gets the better of me sometimes, as I read the scary science and predictions related to climate change.   Maybe the oceans really are dying, as the Los Angeles Time reported today.  See, ...

American Bird Conservancy v. FCC: D.C. Circuit orders reconsideration of cell phone tower rules to address bird collisions

Posted on February 21, 2008
American Bird Conservancy v. FCC, No. 06-1165 (Feb. 19, 2008) SUMMARY: "The American Bird Conservancy and Forest  Conservation Council petition for review of an order by the Commission denying in part and dismissing in part their petition ...

Eighth Circuit upholds Corps operations along Missouri River

Posted on February 21, 2008
In re: Operation of the Missouri River System Litigation,, No. 07-1149 (8th Cir. Feb. 8, 2008)(affirming lower court, upholding U.S. Army Corps operations along  Missouri River.) BACKGROUND: In numerous federal courts, South Dakota, Nebraska, ....

AFRC v. Hall: Wanna sue over a 5-year review? Sorry, no can do.

Posted on February 21, 2008
American Forest Resource Council v. Hall, Civ. No. 07-0484 (D.D.C. Feb. 5, 2008)(a 5-year status report, leading to no change in a species status, was not subject to judicial review.) BACKGROUND: For many years, the Plaintiffs, American Forest ...

Delisting the Brown Pelican

Posted on February 20, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 9408- 9433 (Feb. 20, 2008) (Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Petition Finding and Proposed Rule To Remove the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) From the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; Proposed ...

Plants only partly protected by ESA

Posted on February 19, 2008
Pursuant to the ESA, §9, “take” of animal species is prohibited.  Take has further been defined to include harm and harassment of animals.  Plants, however, receive significantly less protection pursuant to the ESA. As FWS Virginia field ...

FWS proposes listing of Hawaiian plant, Phyllostegia hispida, and requests public comments.

Posted on February 19, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 9078 (Feb. 19, 2008)(Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Listing Phyllostegia hispida (No Common Name) as Endangered Throughout Its Range) Click here for a fact sheet from the State of Hawaii Click here for photos of ...

Border security vs. wildlife?

Posted on February 14, 2008
Founders' Note:  Announcing the first blawg entry by an ESAblawg Contributor.  Pete David, a former colleague -- and still a friend -- is a wildlife biologist and consultant living in New Mexico, and he will be periodically contributing to the ...

FWS revises critical habitat for Peirson?s milk vetch

Posted on February 14, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 8748-8785 (FWS revises critical habitat for Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revised Designation of Critical Habitat for Astragalus magdalenae var. peirsonii (Peirson’s Milk-Vetch); Final Rule) SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and ...

FWS designates critical habitat for Berberis nevinii

Posted on February 13, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 8412-8440 (Feb. 13, 2008)(Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for Berberis nevinii (Nevin’s barberry)) SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are designating critical habitat ...

President's budget ups NOAA funding for climate change... Global Warming Wildlife Survival Act gains new cosponsor

Posted on February 12, 2008
In a Feb. 4, 2008 press release, NOAA announced that "President Bush today released a fiscal year 2009 budget for NOAA that includes significant increases to implement the President’s Ocean Initiative, to maintain critical weather forecasting ...

Responding to Court ruling, NOAA Fisheries announces final rule on Oregon Coast coho salmon

Posted on February 12, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 7815-7873 (Feb. 11, 2008)(Endangered and Threatened Species: Final Threatened Listing Determination, Final Protective Regulations, and Final Designation of Critical Habitat for the Oregon Coast Evolutionarily Significant Unit of Coho Salmon; ...

FWS seeking comments on Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep critical habitat and taxonomy

Posted on February 12, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 6684-6689 (Feb. 5, 2008)(Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis californiana) and Proposed Taxonomic Revision Photo from Nevada Fish & ...

NMFS (and FWS) critique Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management in joint report on National Forest Plan

Posted on February 12, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 7260-7261 (Feb. 7, 2008)(Endangered and Threatened Species: Program Review for Section 7 Counterpart Regulations National Fire Plan Activities) SUMMARY: “The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces the availability of a joint ...

FWS finds listing of Gunnison?s prairie dog is warranted, but precluded, for a significant portion of the species range

Posted on February 11, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 6660-6684 (Feb. 5, 2008)(Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding on a Petition To List the Gunnison’s Prairie Dog as Threatened or Endangered) SUMMARY: "We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), ...

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