Drew Caputo, VP of Litigation for Lands, and Wildlife, Oceans: “There’s a climate crisis and there’s also a biodiversity crisis. I think a lot of people think the climate crisis is the main driver of the biodiversity crisis — that’s not true. It’s habitat destruction.”

Biden administration falls short of fully restoring ESA

Public comment period for proposed rulemakings on how Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service protect species and habitats

Proposals seek to weaken species protections on behalf of special interests

Administration will keep harmful Trump era regulations in place for indeterminate period

Kristen Boyles, Managing Attorney, Northwest Office, Earthjustice: “The whole point of the Endangered Species Act is to give protections to species that are on the brink of extinction. The Trump rules that have today been repealed did nothing to help species and in fact did affirmative harm to how species are protected in this country.…

Motion to remand without vacatur filed by Defendants Deb Haaland, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Gina Raimondo, and National Marine Fisheries Service The Court will grant the motion for remand but will vacate the challenged regulations.

Administration planned to keep harmful Trump era regulations in place for indeterminate period

Kristen Boyles, Managing Attorney, Northwest Regional Office: “These harmful rules have been in place for almost three years and the Biden administration is still missing in action. And the agencies are, of course, using them because they have to use the regulations that are in place.”

Earthjustice will pursue litigation to stop disastrous policies that remain in place as the administration begins rulemaking

Reversing Trump rollbacks to the Endangered Species Act among first steps

Agencies will begin several rule-making processes to eliminate disastrous regulations

Las agencias comenzarán varios procesos de elaboración de reglas para eliminar dichas regulaciones desastrosas

The Endangered Species Act is one of the most visionary and effective environmental laws ever enacted. It requires all federal agencies to consult with expert federal wildlife agencies to ensure that their actions will not harm endangered species and, when necessary, to develop project alternatives that will mitigate any possible harm to endangered species. Consultation…

Complaint challenging the Trump administration’s promulgation of a definition for “habitat” as part of the regulations that implement
section 4 of the Endangered Species Act.

Complaint to challenge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s promulgation of a new rule implementing section 4(b)(2) of the Endangered Species Act, which strips vital protections from federal lands and other areas that the best available science indicate are necessary for the conservation of threatened and endangered species.

Regulations finalized last month strip vital protection from imperiled species’ essential recovery habitat

Earthjustice just filed a suite of lawsuits to defend the Endangered Species Act and the creatures and landscapes it protects, including the iconic gray wolf.