Environmental Law

Delisting the Maguire daisy (and official citations for polar bear listing documents)

Posted on May 18, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 28410 (Friday, May 16, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Removal of Erigeron maguirei From the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Plants; ...

Happy (uh, sort of...) Endangered Species Day!

Posted on May 16, 2008
Yes, really, is is Endangered Species Day.  For more information visit the Endangered Species Coalition.  See also Senate Resolution 520, sponsored by Dianne ...

Secretary Kempthorne announces polar bear bear listing, but explanations infuriate climate change thinkers

Posted on May 14, 2008
73 Federal Register ___ (May 14, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Threatened Status for the Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Throughout Its Range; Final ...

Rio Grande Cutthroat trout listing is warranted, but precluded, by other priorities

Posted on May 14, 2008
73 Federal Register 27900 (Wednesday, May 14, 2008)(Department of Interior; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Status Review for Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout;  Fish and Wildlife Service; Notice of candidate status review.) SUMMARY: We, ...

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FWS reopens comment period on San Diego thornmint critical habitat

Posted on May 13, 2008
73 Federal Register 27483 (Tuesday, May 13, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for Acanthomintha ilicifolia (San Diego thornmint)) SUMMARY: We, ...

In Lake Belt mining case, 11th Circuit rebukes lower court, reaffirms deference principles in Federal APA litigation

Posted on May 09, 2008
Sierra Club v. Flowers, No. 07-13297 (May 9, 2008) available online BACKGROUND: Sierra Club brought this action against the Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) after the Corps granted Rinker Materials and other mining concerns (“Miners”) Clean ...

Rhetoric heating up over global warming in cool places; polar bear litigation taking shape

Posted on May 08, 2008
We knew it was coming.   Even before the U.S. District Court Judge demanded a decision by May 15, wildlife watchers knew that the debate over the fate of the polar bear would lead to years of litigation.  See ESAblawg (March 2, 2008) on ...

White tailed prarie dog under further review for listing by FWS in response to petition

Posted on May 06, 2008
73 Federal Register 24910 (Tuesday, May 6, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding on a Petition to List the White-tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys leucurus) as Threatened ...

Petition to list landlocked, freshwater Kokanee salmon may be warranted and triggers FWS status review

Posted on May 06, 2008
73 Federal Register 24915 (Tuesday, May 6, 2008) (DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding on a Petition to List Kokanee (Oncorhynchus nerka) in Lake Sammamish, Washington, as ...

FWS announces new proposed critical habitat for Louisiana black bear

Posted on May 06, 2008
73 Federal Register 25354 (Tuesday, May 6, 2008) (DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for the Louisiana Black Bear (Ursus americanus luteolus); Proposed ...

In response to petition, FWS finds that listing of the longfin smelt may be warranted

Posted on May 06, 2008
73 Federal Register 24911 (May 6, 2008) (DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Petition To List the San Francisco Bay-Delta Population of the Longfin Smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) as ....

Babbit v. Sweet Home Chapter of Communities for a Greater Oregon, 515 U.S. 687 (1995)

Posted on May 05, 2008
Continuing her service to the legal community, ESAblawg contributor Liz Batres submitted the following summary of Babbit v. Sweet Home Chapter of Communities for a Greater Oregon, 515 U.S. 687 (1995), as published by FindLaw Photo of Northern ...

NOAA Fisheries announces three new BiOps on dam irrigation projects

Posted on May 05, 2008
In a press release issued earlier today, NOAA’s Fisheries Service, the federal agency charged with protecting Northwest salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act, announced the release of "a trio of biological opinions that provide ...

Busy future for NOAA Fisheries includes ESA rules for killer whales, smalltooth sawfish, and green sturgeon

Posted on May 05, 2008
In today's Federal Register notices, NOAA Fisheries discussed its plans to consider three different Endangered Species Act rulemaking initiatives, including protective regulations expressly prohibiting take of killer whales and green sturgeon, and ...

Desert bald eagle formally "relisted" by FWS in response to Court order

Posted on May 01, 2008
73 Federal Register 23966 (Thursday, May 1, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Listing the Potential Sonoran Desert Bald Eagle Distinct Population Segment as Threatened Under the ...

Maybe we need the ESA, but we need the species even more.

Posted on April 30, 2008
While the Endangered Species Act may be among the most powerful of our environmental laws, sometimes, it still can't match the potential of simple human compassion, creativity, and self-interest to remind us about the importance of endangered species ...

ESAblawg on Comcast Newsmakers

Posted on April 30, 2008
ESAblawg recently earned news coverage from Comcast Newsmakers.  Watch for Spero Canton's interview with ESAblawg founder Keith W. Rizzardi in April ...

Regarding listing decision for polar bear, Federal Judge says delay is over...

Posted on April 29, 2008
Center for Biological Diversity v. Kempthorne, No. C 08-1339 CW, (N.D.Cal., April 29, 2008) Photo from Defenders of Wildlife Campaign to Save Polar Bears By Court order, the Federal Government will soon make its decision regarding the listing of ....

BLM's consultation on fire management in Nevada upheld

Posted on April 27, 2008
Western Watersheds Project v. Bureau of Land Management, 03:06-CV-00527-LRH-RAM, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32299 (D. Nevada, April 18, 2008). BACKGROUND:  The Elko District of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) consists of 7.5 million acres of land ...

Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153 (1978)

Posted on April 27, 2008
Adding a new feature to ESA blawg... Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) case law links and summaries (see "Read More" below), authored by ESA blawg contributor Liz Batres. Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153 (1978) ...

Yet another Pacific Northwest salmon case, and yet another remand to NOAA to reconsider its biological opinion.

Posted on April 25, 2008
National Wildlife Federation v. NMFS, Nos. 06-35011, 06-35019, 2008 WL 1821470 (April 24, 2008) available online. In the Ninth Circuit's own words... These consolidated appeals bring us once more to the Pacific Northwest, for another round in the ....

Ninth Circuit refines its standards for injunctions in MMPA case, implications for ESA.

Posted on April 25, 2008
Humane Society v. Gutierrez, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 8733 (April 23, 2008). What the District Court giveth, the Ninth Circuit can taketh away (and vice versa).  While this case was based on the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the call for an emergency ...

NOAA biop on salmon in Sacramento Delta struck down, due, in part, to global climate change.

Posted on April 24, 2008
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations v. Gutierrez, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31462 (April 16, 2008) Chinook salmon photo from California Department of Fish and Game It was inevitable. Sooner or later, NOAA's biological opinion on the ....

Rhinos: perspectives after a South African visit

Posted on April 23, 2008
An Endangered Species Recovery Success Story from Southern Africa. by Pete David, www.esablawg.com contributor. The Hluhluwe-Umfolozi (pronounced Shloo-shloo-ee Im fuh-low-see) Game Reserve (Reserve) located approximately 264 km (165 mi) northeast ...

NOAA proposes Lake Ozette Sockeye Salmon Recovery Plan

Posted on April 23, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 21913(Wednesday, April 23, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Endangered and Threatened Species; Recovery Plans; Notice of Availability; request for comments.) Photo of Sockeye salmon from ...

Comments sought by FWS on Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan

Posted on April 23, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 21978 (Wednesday, April 23, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, Volusia and Lake Counties, FL; Notice of availability: Draft comprehensive conservation plan and environmental ...

NOAA needs 6 months more to reach listing decision on beluga whale

Posted on April 22, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 21578(Tuesday, April 22, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Endangered And Threatened Species; Endangered Status for the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale; Final determination regarding petitioned ...

FWS undertakes status review on Midwestern species

Posted on April 22, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 21643 (Tuesday, April 22, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 5-Year Reviews; Notice of initiation of review; Request for information on seven listed midwestern ...

Was this Mississippi developer represented by Greedy Associates? Court rejects ESA-related 5th Amendment claim.

Posted on April 21, 2008
Schooner Harbor Ventures v. U.S., No. 06-87L, 2008 WL 1765482 (Fed. Ct. Claims., April 15, 2008) Introduction (excerpt of opinion): The Mississippi Sandhill Crane, a nonmigratory subspecies of the sandhill crane, was added to the United States' ...

Ninth Circuit opinion (unpublished) tackles analysis of troublesome ESA provisions in cutthroat trout case

Posted on April 21, 2008
Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, No. 06-35080, D.C. No. CV-05-00165-KI (9th Cir. April 18, 2008) In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded a District Court order ...

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