WildEarth Guardians v. Bernhardt

On August 15, 2019, WildEarth Guardians voluntarily dismissed a lawsuit it had filed only two days earlier to compel the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to make a 12-month finding on a petition to list the Joshua tree as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. WildEarth Guardians submitted the petition in September 2015, and FWS issued a positive 90-day finding in September 2016. On August 14, 2019, FWS issued a <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-08-15/pdf/2019-17536.pdf">determination</a> that listing was not warranted. The August 13 complaint alleged that climate change and drought threatened to “completely eradicate” the Joshua tree by 2100.