All articles tagged with #habitat protection
Twenty Democratic attorneys general and Washington, D.C., filed two lawsuits against the Trump administration, alleging new rules weaken the Endangered Species Act by narrowing what counts as 'harm' and by loosening protections for newly threatened species and critical habitats, potentially allowing mining and drilling in sensitive areas.
The Trump administration rescinded the ESA harm rule, removing habitat-protection language that had limited habitat loss for listed species. A veteran law professor argues the rollback is likely unlawful and unlikely to survive lawsuits that challenge procedural and statutory grounds, including NEPA, the ESA, and the Administrative Procedure Act, and that Sweet Home v. Babbit remains a controlling precedent despite the post-Chevron shift in Loper Bright. Environmental groups have already filed suits and may seek preliminary injunctions to block the rule while litigation proceeds. With over two-thirds of listed species relying on nonfederal habitat, the outcome could hinge on whether courts uphold Sweet Home without Chevron deference, potentially sending the case to the Supreme Court.
A new jaguar sighting in southern Arizona marks the eighth documented jaguar in the southwestern U.S. since 1996, with the Arizona Game and Fish Department confirming the authenticity of the footage. The jaguars, placed on the endangered species list in 1997, have about 750,000 acres of critical protected habitat designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service along the border in southern Arizona and New Mexico. Despite threats to their habitat, such as border wall construction and new mines, the majestic felines continue to reestablish previously occupied territory. The newly spotted jaguar's gender is unclear, prompting calls for action to support jaguar recovery efforts.
Volunteers in Boiling Spring Lakes, North Carolina, are working to remove Venus flytraps from roadside ditches and replant them in safer areas away from impending utility construction. Development and lack of burning have led to a decline in the population of these rare carnivorous plants, which only occur naturally within a 75-mile radius around Wilmington. Efforts to protect the flytraps' habitat have prompted the city to take over managing street-side mowing, and now volunteers are working to relocate the plants to city-owned land. Despite their dwindling habitat, Venus flytraps lack threatened and endangered species protections.