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Salmon Lessons For The Delta Smelt: Unjustified Reliance On Hatcheries In The Usfws October 2019 Biological Opinion, Paul Stanton Kibel

Publications

Pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, in October 2019 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) of the Trump Administration issued a new Biological Opinion (BiOp) for coordinated operations of the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project (2019 USFWS BiOp).

The Central Valley Project is operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), and the State Water Project is operated by the California Department of Water Resources. The Central Valley Project and the State Water Project both divert freshwater from the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River watersheds, and the reduced freshwater flow resulting from these …

Can A Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan Save San Diego's Vulnerable Vernal Pool Species?, John Buse

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

The Endangered Species Act2 (hereinafter “ESA” or “the Act”) protects some of the rarest and most charismatic mammals on earth, including polar bears, wolves, jaguars, and orcas. The ESA also protects less conspicuous species and their habitats. Not all species are equal under the law; for example, plants are afforded substantially less protection, and the Act excludes pest insects if their protection “would present an overwhelming and overriding risk to man.” But the ESA does provide a remarkable degree of taxonomic equality for most covered species, generally treating bears and burying beetles as equals. This equality infuriates opponents of the …

Unbearable? Bitterroot Grizzly Bear Reintroduction & The George W. Bush Administration, Rob Roy Smith

Golden Gate University Law Review

This article begins by providing a brief overview of the history of the grizzly bear reintroduction efforts and the Clinton Administration's decision to move forward with plans to secure an experimental population of the threatened species in the remote wilderness of Idaho and Montana. Section III focuses on local reaction to the decision to reintroduce the grizzly bear, and in particular, the strong rhetoric of the Idaho congressional delegation opposing the reintroduction. Section IV brings new light on the subsequent legal challenge brought by Governor Dirk Kempthorne and the Republican legislative leadership of the State of Idaho to bar the …