The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service seek to rescind two critical habitat regulations finalized in the last days of the Trump administration. In December 2020, FWS issued a final rule that revised the process for considering critical habitat exclusions under the Endangered Species Act. FWS re-evaluated the rule and concluded the conservation purposes of the …
Administration Proposes ESA Changes
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries announced Thursday proposed revisions to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Several proposed changes deal with procedures for listing species, recovery and designating critical habitat. The agencies propose to revise the procedures for designating critical habitat by reinstating a requirement that they will first evaluate areas currently occupied by the species before …
Fish and Wildlife Proceeds with Action Despite Directive
President Donald Trump recently released a directive freezing all regulatory activity by federal agencies. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it will not extend a 90-day comment period on the status of the Lesser Prairie Chicken under the Endangered Species Act. This is despite the expected public release of a new species population survey from the Western Association …