A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to complete within nine months a delayed assessment of whether the San Francisco Estuary local population of white sturgeon should be listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Cisneros in San Francisco wasn’t persuaded by the agency’s arguments that it would need until 2029 to complete the so-called 12-month finding because of a backlog of pending petitions and staffing shortages from layoffs and a hiring freeze.
The judge specifically rejected the agency’s contention that setting an expedited schedule for the white sturgeon assessment would disrupt the Fish and Wildlife Service’s ability to resolve other petitions on schedule.
“The court finds that statement less than fully credible,” Cisneros said. “Defendants’ failure to meet statutory deadlines under the ESA appears to have resulted, in part, from adopting procedures that are inconsistent with those deadlines. Accordingly, any inability to meet other deadlines in light of this court’s order is at least in part a problem of defendants’ own making.”
Read the Full ArticleSource: Courthouse News