Center for Biological Diversity v. Burgum

Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Columbia to compel the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to issue a 90-day finding in response to CBD’s April 22, 2024 petition to list the saltmarsh sparrow as endangered or threatened. CBD alleged that it submitted the petition after FWS failed to take voluntary action for several years after initiating a discretionary status review in 2019. The complaint alleged that the species’ population has dropped by 87% over the last 30 years and that the “most urgent and immediate threat facing the sparrow is habitat loss caused by rising sea levels.” The sparrow inhabits coastal salt marshes in the Eastern United States. The complaint alleged that other threats to the species include coastal development, oil spills, and predation. CBD asked the court to order FWS to issue a 90-day finding by a date certain.