Center for Biological Diversity v. Burgum

Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Columbia challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS’s) November 2023 determination that protection of the Florida pinesnake under the Endangered Species Act was not warranted. The complaint alleged that the species, which inhabits the longleaf pine ecosystems of the southeastern United States, was threatened by the destruction of that habitat as well as by other factors including climate impacts from sea level rise, increased drought, more intense storms, and altered fire seasons. The alleged shortcomings in the FWS’s analysis included that the FWS failed to address factors, including climate change, that it had identified as threats. To the Florida pinesnake’s future viability.