Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

During the final weeks of the Biden administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) reached agreements that set schedules for review of the status of species to determine whether listing them as endangered or threatened is warranted. The plaintiffs in these cases identified climate change as one of the threats facing these species. In this lawsuit and another lawsuit, FWS agreed to make 12-month findings regarding whether listings of the American bumblebee and variable cuckoo bumblebee are warranted by June 30, 2027. FWS also agreed to make a 12-month finding regarding the blue calamintha bee by June 14, 2028 and to make a 12-month finding regarding the Southern Plains bumblebee by June 30, 2029.

Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Arizona to compel the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to make a 12-month finding on the organization’s petition to list the Southern Plains bumblebee as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. The complaint alleged that over half of native bees in the United States, including the Southern Plains bumblebee, “are suffering from declining populations due to habitat degradation and destruction, pesticide use, climate change, and other threats.” The petition, which FWS received on July 27, 2022, described the “major indirect threat” to the bumblebee that climate change poses.