Center for Biological Diversity v. Haaland

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), its director, and the Secretary of the Interior entered into a stipulated settlement agreement to resolve a lawsuit in which Center for Biological Diversity challenged the FWS’s 2019 finding that listing the southern hognose snake was not warranted under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). CBD’s complaint alleged that climate change was a “primary threat” to the snake and that FWS’s failure to consider factors such as climate change-induced weather events violated the ESA’s mandate to rely on best available science. The settlement agreement said the FWS had determined that “it is prudent to re-evaluate the status of the southern hognose snake under the ESA and develop a new 12-month finding, … based on the best scientific and commercial data available and after taking into account any efforts being made by any states to protect the species … , as to whether the southern hognose snake warrants listing as an endangered or threatened species.” The FWS agreed to submit the new finding to the Office of the Federal Register by August 27, 2025.

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) 2019 determination that listing of the southern hognose snake under the Endangered Species Act was not warranted. The complaint alleged that the snake was “highly imperiled due to extensive habitat loss and ongoing threats such as timber harvest, urbanization, habitat fragmentation, road mortality, climate change, invasive species, the commercial pet trade, and disease” and that the FWS predicted that only a quarter of historic populations would remain in the foreseeable future, with the remaining population isolated. The complaint said the model relied on by the FWS did not consider factors such as climate change-induced weather events such as droughts and storms in violation of the mandate to rely solely on best available science. The complaint described climate change impacts as a “primary threat” to the snake and alleged that the snake was particularly vulnerable to climate change-induced weather events because it is an ectotherm. The complaint also alleged that climate change will cause declines in the species’ longleaf pine habitat and that sea level rise was expected to eliminate coastal habitat in the snake’s range.