Environmental Lawsuits

The Center for Biological Diversity is challenging a proposed settlement that would require the Obama administration to consider federal protections for hundreds of imperiled animals and plants. The group  asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to put the settlement on hold, saying the deal announced last week between the administration and Denver-based WildEarth Guardians was “flawed and hatched in secret.” The Center for Biological Diversity is a plaintiff in a related case that could give it legal leverage to influence the settlement. Field Supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Says the lawsuit  address a backlog of 251 imperiled species, which they don’t have the resources to log.

Wilson says they would also  resolve petitions seeking protections on approximately 600 additional species. The Center for Biological Diversity contends the settlement left out important species and is not enforceable. Court approval of the deal is pending.