The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) says an appeals court ruling on Modernized Endangered Species Act regulations sends a message to lower courts. Modernized Endangered Species Act regulations will be reinstated after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a district court improperly vacated 2019 revisions. The appeals court determined a district court erred by reversing the regulations without determining whether they were actually unlawful.
AFBF President Zippy Duvall says, “The revisions to the Endangered Species Act protected at risk animals while ensuring farmers could continue feeding America’s families. This ruling doesn’t bring an end to the debate about modernizing the ESA, but it sends an important message to the 9th Circuit lower courts that their job is to rule based on the law. They can no longer vacate a rule unless they determine it is unlawful.”
This is the second appellate ruling to favor AFBF in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the past month. In August, the Court overturned a lower court’s ruling that prohibited AFBF from defending the delisting of the gray wolf.
Read the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling here.
Listen to Sabrina Halvorson’s program here.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.