Lawsuits pile up over endangered species decisions made by Trump administration – Everett Post

BY: JULIA JACOBO, ABC NEWS

(WASHINGTON) – The Biden Administration continues to initiate lawsuits over Trump Act decisions under the Endangered Species Act.

The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Thursday for failing to protect 10 species under the Endangered Species Act.

Among the species is the monarch butterfly, which the Trump administration decided in December that inclusion in the list of threatened species was “justified but excluded”. This meant that while the monarch butterfly became a candidate for inclusion on the Endangered Species List, it has not yet been included as the agency is prioritizing other candidates.

The monarch butterfly was added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species in 2014 after it was found that 90% of its population had declined from their original levels. While millions of the butterflies spent winters in California’s coastal groves in the 1980s, only 30,000 were counted in 2019.

The number of legendary butterflies has decreased dramatically due to the increased use of herbicides on farms, climate change and the destruction of milkweed plants. This is what monarch caterpillars eat and where monarch butterflies lay their eggs.

Other species described in the lawsuit as being left behind in “regulatory purgatory” are the northern owl found in December, which warrants an endangered-to-endangered listing, and the eastern gopher tortoise, which has been awaiting protection since 1982.

Populations of the spotted owl in the north have continued to decline in the face of continued loss of ancient forests to deforestation and habitat invasion by deterred owls, while it is the gopher tortoise that needs large, non-fragmented, long-leaved pine forests to survive, according to the Center for Biodiversity is threatened by the development that led to habitat loss and fragmentation. This limits the availability of food and the possibilities for construction sites and puts them in their caves during construction, being run over by cars or shot.

A number of other lawsuits have been brought against the federal government since Biden took office.

Several conservation groups sued the USFWS on March 25 over a decision by the Trump administration to deny protection of voles to northern Oregon coastal populations under the Endangered Species Act. Red tree vole populations have been destroyed by deforestation, forest fires, and inadequate protection on state and private land. The USFWS found that the vole warranted protection in 2011, but believed that the listing of other species excluded protection. The vole was then denied protection in 2019.

The center sued the USFWS on March 25 to challenge the Trump administration’s downgrade of the American grave beetle from endangered to threatened. The lawsuit called for restoration to endangered status as the beetle continues to face threats from climate change and habitat destruction that puts it at risk of extinction. The delisting came after the Independent Petroleum Association of America’s petition to delist the species, the center said.

Several conservation groups sued the USFWS on March 24 for refusing to designate a critical habitat for the critically endangered rusty bumblebee. The USFWS stated in September that the listing was “not prudent” as the availability of habitat does not limit the bee’s conservation. The bumblebee was protected in 2017, but the USFWS did not designate the critical habitat within the legal deadline.

The center sued the USFWS on March 3 for failing to designate a critical habitat and not develop a restoration plan for Hawaii’s endangered “i’iwi” or “honey herb”. The USFWS listed the species as threatened in 2017.

On Wednesday, the center also filed a letter of intent to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service for a decision on whether the Chinook salmon provides shelter on the Oregon coast. Chinook salmon once thrived in all of the Oregon Coast’s watersheds, but has largely disappeared due to logging, roads, and other causes of habitat degradation such as dams and poorly managed hatcheries, according to the center. The decision has been overdue since September.

On February 4, the Biden government responded to a lawsuit filed by several conservation groups on January 19 – the day before the inauguration day – by delaying a rule Completed in the last few weeks by Donald TrumpPresidency to remove the long-standing, vital protection of more than 1,000 species of waterfowl, birds of prey, and songbirds. The decision was taken on a reinterpretation of the Law on the Treaty on Migratory Birds.

According to the center, only 25 species were protected under the ESA during Trump’s four-year tenure.

In 2019, the Trump administration made changes to the government’s handling of endangered species and changed requirements for how the government decides to add or remove species from the list of government regulated endangered animals, including the Limiting how much habitat needs to be protected.

The changes require separate plans to protect new species that are classified as threatened, rather than giving them the same protection as those classified as endangered. Proponents say this could make it more difficult to protect species threatened by human activities and climate change.

“The past four years have been a dark time for endangered wildlife and the environment at large,” said Noah Greenwald, director of endangered species at the Center for Biodiversity, in a statement Thursday. “We are bringing this lawsuit to ensure that these 10 species in dire need of help are prioritized by the Biden administration, whose job it is to undo the incredible damage wrought under Trump.”

A USFWS representative declined to comment.

Bonnie Rice, a representative for the Sierra Club Endangered Species, told ABC News in a statement that “the Trump administration’s fish and wildlife service has gone to great lengths to remove endangered species protection from as many species as possible,” including other animals like the gray wolf.

Rice said the Sierra Club is challenging Trump’s rollbacks, some of which will be legal challenges.

The Sierra Club “is committed to protecting 30 percent of the territories and waters by 2030 to halt extinction, and we are encouraged by the early work of the Biden government to respond to the climate and reduce endangered species.” check, “Rice said in the statement.