Endangered Species Act Archives

Biden-Harris Admin Rapidly ‘Trump-Proofing’ DOJ as Election Looms

August 28, 2024August 27, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

The Biden-Harris administration has deployed a little-known hiring mechanism to staff key divisions of the Department of Justice (DOJ) ahead of the 2024 election, according to documents provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation by Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT).

Hundreds of people, primarily lawyers and judges, have been appointed to the Environmental and Natural Resources (ENRD) and Antitrust and Immigration Review divisions of the DOJ using its “Schedule A” hiring authority since President Joe Biden took office, documents shared with the DCNF by PPT show. Schedule A hiring does not require appointments to be made on the basis of merit and appointments do not expire at the end of the current president’s term, meaning these bureaucrats will stick around even if former President Donald Trump takes office in 2025, according to the Office of Budget and Management.

Wildlife Groups Threaten Feds with Lawsuit over Wolf Protections

April 28, 2024 The Center Square

by Chris Woodward A coalition of animal welfare and wildlife advocacy groups plans to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over gray wolf protections, pointing to the killing of a wolf in Wyoming as an example of why the species needs more protection. In 2021,…

FDA Threatens Endangered Species with Shoddy Abortion-Drug Reviews: Lance Armstrong Investigator

March 3, 2024 Just the News

Federal public health officials created strange bedfellows among animal-welfare advocates, scientists and vaccine skeptics for allegedly cutting corners in viral and COVID-19 vaccine research and oversight, possibly engineering a pathogen, then a cure that’s worse for some.

The Food and Drug Administration may be creating another odd couple in a case at the Supreme Court: environmental and pro-life activists.

Commentary: This Landmark Conservation Bill Has Been an Abject Failure for Fifty Years

December 23, 2023 Minnesota Sun Staff

December 23, 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by President Richard M. Nixon. The statute has put enormous power into the hands of bureaucrats at the two federal agencies that administer it – the Interior Department’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Commerce Department’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). It has also been adroitly used by environmental groups who have sued the federal government under the ESA to stop projects not of their liking through the broadest possible designation of a “critical habitat” for a plant or animal said to be either threatened or endangered.

California Court Declares Bees Are Actually Fish

June 6, 2022June 5, 2022 Admin

A California appeals court ruled Tuesday that bees can be classified as fish under the state’s Endangered Species Act (CESA) in a blow to agriculture groups.

The Sacramento-based three-judge panel ruled that four species of bumble bees found across California are technically fish since they are invertebrates, according to the decision in a case concerning the species’ protected status that pitted the state government against agriculture groups. The court added that the term fish shouldn’t be confined to “aquatic” invertebrates under the CESA.

California Sues Trump Administration Over ‘Failure to Protect Species’

February 24, 2020February 24, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

California is suing the Trump administration for the administration’s failure to protect endangered species in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, Reuters reports.

The lawsuit by the state Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency filed suit on Thursday against the Trump administration in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Interior Department Announces Reforms to Endangered Species Act Procedures

August 13, 2019August 12, 2019 Admin

The Trump administration on Monday announced reforms to the Endangered Species Act that it says will “increase transparency and effectiveness” in the law’s implementation.

One of the reforms removes a blanket rule which treats protections for threatened species the same as endangered species. It will also require the same standards be used when officials consider delisting or reclassifying species.

Decorated Veteran Faces Jail Time for Using Property That ‘May’ Have a Spider On It

July 30, 2019July 29, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

A case on appeal at the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals pits the rights of a taxpaying property owner against a spider.

Nine States Back Environmentalists Trying to Shutdown Search for Oil in Atlantic

December 22, 2018December 22, 2018 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Tim Pearce Nine states are intervening in a lawsuit against the Trump administration for approving oil and gas companies to search for oil and gas deposits in the Atlantic Ocean. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh announced Thursday the states would join environmental groups in a lawsuit to prevent the Trump…

Wilbur Ross Orders NOAA To Give Firefighters All The Water They Need To Fight WildFires

August 10, 2018August 9, 2018 Admin

by Tim Pearce Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is using resources in his department to ensure that California firefighters are armed with enough water to fight wildfires scorching the state. Ross ordered the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal agencies to prioritize water use for fighting fires over previously arranged…