Center for Biological Diversity v. Burgum

Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Columbia challenging FWS’s failure to designate critical habitat for the Pearl River Map Turtle as required by deadlines mandated in the ESA. The Pearl River Map Turtle was listed as threatened on July 12, 2024, but FWS did not designate critical habitat concurrently or, if not determinable at that time, within one year of listing. The complaint alleged that the Pearl River Map Turtle is threatened with extinction due to degradation and loss of its habitat in the Pearl River system in Mississippi and Louisiana and that the effects of climate change such as increasing temperatures, drought, sea level rise, hurricane regime changes, and increased seasonal precipitation present additional threats.