Center for Biological Diversity v. Zinke

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS’s) determination that the Sonoran Desert Area bald eagle was not a distinct population segment (DPS) eligible for listing under the Endangered Species Act. The Ninth Circuit held that the FWS had reasonably concluded that though the unusual characteristics of the desert eagle population segment satisfied the “persistence” factor for significance, those characteristics did not necessarily require a conclusion that the population segment was ecologically or biologically significant for the bald eagle taxon as a whole. The Ninth Circuit also held that the FWS had reasonably found that extirpation of the desert eagle population segment would not create a significant gap in the range of the taxon. The Ninth Circuit also rejected the argument that the FWS had ignored climate change as a factor for determining the desert eagles’ significance to the taxon, finding that the FWS “directly addressed climate change” and concluded that the best information available indicated that climate change was not a significant threat to the bald eagle.