Earlier this week, a U.S. District Court vacated a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to not list two desert wildflowers as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The ruling further delays implementation of an existing conservation agreement between the FWS, Utah, Colorado and stakeholder groups.  House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop… Read more »

In abiding to a recent court order that vacated the Obama Administration’s withdrawal of a proposed rule to list the North American wolverine as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has reopened public comment on a proposed threatened listing. House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bishop (R-UT) issued the following… Read more »

U.S. Secretary of the Interior (DOI) Sally Jewell is developing controversial plans to cordon off approximately 10 million acres of federal lands located in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming from mineral development. The withdrawals are one plank of the Obama administration's broader regulatory scheme to create a de-facto Endangered Species Act listing for the sage grouse.… Read more »

Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced final revisions to regulations governing the petition process under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement: “This announcement is a call for help from the administration and an acknowledgement that ESA is broken. These revisions give… Read more »

Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held an oversight hearing on the status of the federal government’s inconsistent and unsuccessful wolf management efforts in the United States. The panel, which included local and state witnesses, focused on red wolves in the Southeast, gray wolves in the Northwest and Western Great Lakes and Mexican wolves in the Southwest. “For… Read more »

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released seven memos on its land use plans for the sage grouse, covering 10 Western states. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement: “The Administration’s decision not to list the sage grouse last year was a cynical ploy all along. These plans, written as if the sage grouse were listed, are proof it was an… Read more »

Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published its final methodology for identifying and prioritizing species’ listings under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) released the following statement: “For the life of me I don't understand why FWS needs to tell itself to prioritize the most vulnerable species and use the… Read more »

Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) removed the lesser prairie chicken from the list of threatened and endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in response to a 2015 court ruling. The ruling vacated FWS’s decision to list the species as threatened. FWS also announced it will initiate another evaluation of the species using the same listing methods. Chairman Rob Bishop… Read more »

Today, the House passed H.R. 4582 (Rep. Jeff Denham, R-CA), the “Save Our Salmon Act,” by voice vote. The legislation will exclude striped bass from the fish doubling requirement and other provisions of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, eliminating the ongoing federal conflict between protecting striped bass and endangered salmon in California. Contradicting federal statutes… Read more »

Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight hearing on the Obama Administration’s expansive new definitions and revised criteria for designating critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) argued the new rules allow the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA)… Read more »