On September 10th, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (R-WA) introduced the ESA Amendments Act of 2024 (H.R. 9533). This bill would provide much-needed reform to the Endangered Species Act to incentivize species recovery and promote collaborative species conservation on private and public lands. When it was…
On July 12th, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a final rule designating the Pearl River map turtle as threatened under the Endangered Species Act with a tailored 4(d) rule for take prohibitions. This rule goes into effect on August 12, 2024. Read the final rule here. This rule lists four other map turtle…
On June 21, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (the Services) published several proposed revisions to Endangered Species Act regulations. The two of most importance to our members are highlighted below. Both of these regulations will change the way that the Services approach species listings and critical habitat designations….
The spotted owl may be spelling trouble for forest landowners once again. In February, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a proposal to list two distinct population segments (DPSs) of the California spotted owl. In the proposal, the Coastal-Southern California DSP would be listed as endangered, and the Sierra Nevada DSP would be listed…
A rule expanding the definition of bodies of waters subject to federal environmental protections remains in place after the House failed to override President Joe Biden’s veto of a measure that would have repealed it. On Tuesday, the House passed a disapproval resolution by a vote of 227-196. While this fell short of the two-thirds…
Collaborative conservation was the cornerstone of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s finding earlier this month that listing the gopher tortoise population as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act was not warranted throughout its entire range. The populations in the eastern segment, which includes Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and most of…
In 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced its proposal to change the status of the red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) from “endangered” to “threatened.” The bird had been listed as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since its passage in 1973. The 4(d) rule associated with the downlisting included many caveats that…
In an effort to reverse many Trump-era decisions regarding the Endangered Species Act (ESA), President Biden on his first day in office issued an executive order directing the USFWS to revise, rescind, or reinstate five major ESA regulations issued by the Trump administration. As a result of the Executive Order, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife…
Update: On June 27, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a final rule designating the Suwannee alligator snapping turtle as threatened with a tailored 4(d) rule. The 4(d) rule removed the proposed exceptions for incidental take resulting from construction and maintenance near and in streams, and pesticide and herbicide use. However, the rule retained…