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

Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the Northern District of California to compel the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to issue a final listing rule and critical habitat designation for the monarch butterfly. The plaintiffs alleged that recent studies found that the butterfly “could face migratory collapse in less than 20 years because climate change is making butterflies’ winter habitat unsuitable”; the complaint also cited threats from industrial agriculture herbicide spraying and development and from neonicotinoid insecticides. FWS proposed to list the butterfly as threatened and to designate critical habitat in seven California counties on December 12, 2024. The plaintiffs alleged that the deadline under the Endangered Species Act for issuing a final rule was December 12, 2025. They asked the court to order the defendants to issue a final rule by a date certain.