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

Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit asking the federal district court for the Southern District of Florida to compel the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to issue final determinations on the proposed listing under the Endangered Species Act of three small reptiles that are “found only in the southern tip of Florida and the Florida Keys” and “are facing existential threats from the combined effects of urban development and sea level rise driven by climate change.” The three species are the Florida Keys mole skink, the Rim Rock crowned snake, and the Key ring-necked snake. The lawsuit also challenged FWS’s failure to designate critical habitat for eight south Florida plants. The complaint alleged that the pine rocklands ecosystems where these plants live are “globally critically imperiled and threatened by fire suppression, climate change, and sprawl development.”