LITIGATING POLITICAL CORRUPTION: A CAMPAIGN TIMELINE

August 28, 2007 – The Center filed a notice of intent to sue for political interference with 55 endangered species in 28 states. Click here for the notice of intent to sue, including an account of all 55 species and the corresponding instances of political interference.

November 15, 2007 – The Center filed suits over lack of Endangered Species Act protections for six species: the Montana arctic fluvial grayling, Mexican garter snake, loach minnow, spikedace, Santa Ana sucker, and Mississippi gopher frog.

December 19, 2007 – The Center filed suits for 13 species: the California red-legged frog, arroyo toad, three California plants, two Oregon plants, one North Carolina plant, and four New Mexico invertebrates.

December 27, 2007 – The Center challenged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for withholding documents in its review decisions made by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Fish, Wildlife and Parks Julie MacDonald.

April 11, 2008 – The Center reached an agreement with the Service that required the agency to designate critical habitat for the Cook’s lomatium, large-flowered woolly meadowfoam, and San Diego ambrosia.

May 21, 2008 – The U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report finding that political interference in scientific decisions concerning the nation’s endangered species were not limited to former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Fish, Wildlife and Parks Julie MacDonald.

May 28, 2008 – The Fish and Wildlife Service announced it would conduct another status review to determine whether the Mexican garter snake deserves protection as an endangered species.

June 5, 2008 – The Center reached a settlement with the Service under which the agency agreed to revisit its politically influenced 2005 decision on critical habitat for the arroyo toad.

June 18, 2008 – The Service agreed to reconsider critical habitat designations for two rare Southern California plants, the spreading navarretia and the thread-leaved brodiaea.

June 24, 2008 – The Service agreed to reconsider the critical habitat designation for the Lane Mountain milk-vetch, for which it had previously designated zero acres of protected habitat.

September 16, 2008 – The Service proposed to revise its dramatic and illegal reduction in critical habitat for the California red-legged frog by proposing to protect approximately 1.8 million acres for the species.

October 2, 2008 – The Center sued the Bush administration over its wrongful Endangered Species Act decisions affecting the southwestern willow flycatcher, western snowy plover, California tiger salamander, San Jacinto Valley crownscale, Munz’s onion, and Buena Vista Lake ornate shrew.

January 14, 2009 – The Center filed seven separate lawsuits over the Bush administration’s  political interference in decisions concerning designation of critical habitat for 18 species — the San Bernardino kangaroo rat, Arkansas River shiner, Riverside fairy shrimp, 12 Texas invertebrates and three California plants — and one formal notice of intent to sue concerning listing of the Colorado River cutthroat trout.

January 15, 2009 – The Center reached a settlement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the scientifically flawed and politically tainted critical habitat designation for the Santa Ana sucker. The Service agreed to make a new critical habitat proposal by December 1, 2010.

May 2009 – In response to the Center’s October 2008 lawsuit, the Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to reconsider granting critical habitat for the Sonoma population of the California tiger salamander.

June 9, 2009 – In response to our December 2007 lawsuit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to increase critical habitat for the spreading navarretia, a California plant, from 652 to 6,872 acres. However, the proposal included only 35 percent of the 19,399 acres originally identified as essential to the plant’s conservation.

August 13, 2009 – The Center filed suit challenging the 2003 decision to strip Endangered Species Act protections from the Sacramento splittail.

August 18, 2009 – In response to our October 2000 lawsuit, the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to designate 74,223 acres of critical habitat for the Sonoma County population of the California tiger salamander.

August 18, 2009 – The Fish and Wildlife Service signed an agreement settling a 2006 lawsuit by the Center and allies challenging the Service's 2006 decision not to list the Gunnison sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act. The agreement required the agency to prepare a new listing decision by June 30, 2010.

October 26, 2009 – Through a legal settlement with the Center, the Service agreed to reconsider our petitions to protect the Hermes copper and Thorne’s hairstreak butterflies.

November 12, 2009 – The Center and allies sued to overturn the decision stripping protections from the West Virginia northern flying squirrel.

December 8, 2009 – The Service proposed to protect 3, 786 acres for the thread-leaved brodiaea — a great improvement on its 2005 designation but still a failure to protect 49 percent of existing plants.

December 8, 2009 – As a result of one of our lawsuits, the Service proposed to protect a total of 9,605 acres for the Santa Ana sucker, with the new designation to include its namesake river.