Center for Biological Diversity v. Williams

The federal district court for the Northern District of Illinois affirmed a voluntary stipulation to dismiss the case due to a venue dispute between the parties. The parties agreed that the plaintiffs would file a new suit in the federal district court of the District of Columbia to continue this matter.

Center for Biological Diversity and Hoosier Environmental Council filed a lawsuit challenging the decision of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to deny their 2010 petition to list the Kirtland’s snake under the Endangered Species Act. They alleged that the snake’s population had declined due to urban and residential development, as well as agricultural development and associated harms, and that climate change also posed “a substantial threat” to the snake “as large portions of the species’ current range are predicted to become increasingly unsuited to meet the species’ ecological needs.” Their complaint alleged that best available science indicated that climate change would make most of the snake’s current range unsuitable in the foreseeable future, and that the FWS arbitrarily assumed that the snake would adapt to and survive climate change in its current range. In addition, the complaint alleged that the FWS did not adequately evaluate whether threats from climate change and other factors constituted “concentrated” threats.