Animal Law Commons^™

Bullhooks And The Law: Is Pain And Suffering The Elephant In The Room?, Trevor J. Smith

Animal Law Review

In the United States, violent use of “bullhooks”—sharpened, steel-tipped rods—on captive elephants at carnivals, circuses, and zoos is all too routine. Yet animal-welfare advocates struggle to protect elephants from the (mis)use of bullhooks under the current regulatory regime. At the federal level, advocates cannot consistently rely on either the Animal Welfare Act or the Endangered Species Act, due to these statutes’ narrow provisions, standing limitations, and inconsistent enforcement. State animal-protection laws are equally deficient, as only two states have defined suffering and abuse clearly enough in their statutes to enable effective prosecution of elephant mistreatment, and plaintiffs in even these …

Using Conservation Management Agreements To Secure Postrecovery Perpetuation Of Conservation-Reliant Species: The Kirtland's Warbler As A Case Study, Dale Goble

Articles

Kirtland’s warbler is one of many conservation-reliant species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This species has met recovery goals, but removing it from the protections of the ESA is problematic because of its reliance on ongoing conservation. We define conservation management agreements (CMAs) and describe how they may provide a mechanism to protect conservation-reliant species after delisting. We suggest that CMAs should include four major elements: (1) a conservation partnership capable of implementing management actions at conservation-relevant scales, (2) a conservation management plan based on the management actions in the species’ successful recovery plan, (3) sufficient financial resources …

Rules For Playing God: The Need For Assisted Migration & New Regulation, Jessica Kabaz-Gomez

Animal Law Review

Climate change is quickly transforming habitats. Species in affected regions are facing extinction as they are unable to migrate to suitable environments. This Note discusses assisted migration, the intentional human-assisted movement of imperiled species to suitable habitats outside of their historic range, as an important—though controversial—conservation tool. There are, however, no comprehensive assisted migration regulations in the United States. This Note argues that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) should be the agency to issue regulations regarding assisted migration because FWS already has broad authority under the Endangered Species Act to conserve wildlife. This Note proposes that new regulations …

The Endangered Species Act V. The United States Department Of Justice: How The Department Of Justice Derailed Criminal Prosecutions Under The Endangered Species Act, Ed Newcomer, Marie Palladini, Leah Jones

Animal Law Review

Historically, in prosecutions under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), to prove the element “knowingly” the government only had to prove that a defendant intentionally killed an animal that turned out to be endangered or threatened, not that the defendant knew the identity of the species or the endangered or threatened status of the animal when it was killed. Jury instructions to this effect were repeatedly upheld. Then, in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court for McKittrick v. U.S., the federal government, unprompted, unnecessarily, and without explanation, said that it would not use this jury instruction in the future …

A Fish Tale: A Small Fish, The Esa, And Our Shared Future, Dale Goble

Articles

The objective of the Endangered Species Act is to "recover" imperiled species and thus to render the Act's conservation tools unnecessary To achieve this goal, the drafters of the Act crafted a linear process that begins with an assessment of the threats facing the species and moves through the elimination of those threats to the recovery and delisting of the species. It has become increasingly apparent over the past decade that few species fit this model- most species face threats-altered habitats and competition with invasive species-that cannot be eliminated. These species are "conservation reliant" because they will require ongoing conservation …

Conservation-Reliant Species And The Future Of Conservation, Dale Goble

Articles

Species threatened with extinction are the focus of mounting conservation concerns throughout the world. Thirty-seven years after passage of the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1973, we conclude that the Act’s underlying assumption—that once the recovery goals for a species are met it will no longer require continuing management—is false. Even when management actions succeed in achieving biological recovery goals, maintenance of viable populations of many species will require continuing, species-specific intervention. Such species are “conservation reliant.” To assess the scope of this problem, we reviewed all recovery plans for species listed as endangered or threatened under the Act. Our …

Keeping The Endangered Species Act Relevant, J.B. Ruhl

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has long been the workhorse of species protection in contexts for which a species-specific approach can effectively be employed to address discrete human-induced threats that have straightforward causal connections to the decline of a species, such as clearing of occupied habitat for development or damming of a river. Its resounding success there, however, has led to the misperception that it can duplicate that record anywhere and for any reason a species is at risk. Yet, is the statute adaptable to the sprawling, sometimes global, phenomena that are wearing down our environmental fabric on landscape scales …

The Endangered Species Act: What We Talk About When We Talk About Recovery, Dale Goble

Articles

No abstract provided.

Ringling Brothers On Trial: Circus Elephants And The Endangered Species Act, Mark Eichelman

Animal Law Review

In February 2009, the case of American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, et al. v. Feld Entertainment, Inc. was heard in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs, four animal rights organizations and one former elephant handler for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, brought a citizen suit against Feld Entertainment, Inc. (FEI), owner of Ringling Brothers, alleging that the Circus’ use of bullhooks and leg tethers on its endangered Asian elephants constituted illegal “takings” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). FEI argued that the plaintiffs did not have standing to …

Slides: Global Warming And The Endangered Species Act, Kieran Suckling

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Kieran Suckling, Center for Biological Diversity

15 slides

Slides: Water Needs And Strategies For A Sustainable Future, Shaun Mcgrath

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Shaun McGrath, Program Director, Western Governors’ Association

25 slides

Agenda: Shifting Baselines And New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, And The Transformation Of The American West, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

The Center’s 29th annual conference will focus on the changes in the West resulting from rapid population growth, development, disrupted historical weather patterns and the effects of those changes on land, water, and energy resources. Speakers and panelists will address the adaptability of the legal and political institutions and how the transformation of the West may foreshadow fundamental changes to these institutions.

The agenda includes panel discussions that will address:

• Water for the 21^st Century —the big questions in Western water and rethinking Western water law.
• The Future of Energy —practical and sophisticated solutions to overcome the energy …

Justice Delayed: A Tribal Attorney’S Perspective On Elwha River Dam Removal And Ecosystem Restoration, Russell W. Busch

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

Presenter: Russell W. Busch, Attorney for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe

10 pages.

Saving Special Places: Trends And Challenges With Protecting Public Lands [Outline], Robert B. Keiter

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

7 pages.

Includes bibliographical references

"Robert B. Keiter, Wallace Stegner Professor of Law, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law"

Slides: The Future Public Law Of Private Ecosystems, J. B. Ruhl

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

Presenter: J.B. Ruhl, Florida State University Law School

18 slides

The Growing Influence Of Tort And Property Law On Natural Resources Law: Case Studies Of Coal Bed Methane Development And Geologic Carbon Sequestration, Alexandra B. Klass

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

19 pages.

"Alexandra B. Klass, Associate Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School"

Recovery In A Cynical Time - With Apologies To Eric Arthur Blair, Dale Goble

Articles

No abstract provided.

Exotic Pets Invade United States Ecosystems: Legislative Failure And A Proposed Solution, Robert Brown

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Day 3: Friday, 19 August 2005: Section 7 Consultation, Susan Linner, Leslie Elwood, Steve Culver

Endangered Species Act Congressional Field Tour (August 17-19)

10 pages (includes color illustrations and map).

Contains references.

Day 3: Friday, 19 August 2005: Habitat Conservation Plans, Susan Linner, Anne Ruggles, Anne Winans

Endangered Species Act Congressional Field Tour (August 17-19)

5 pages (includes illustration).

Contains references.

Day 2: Thursday, 18 August 2005: Candidate Conservation Agreements And Collaborative Multi-Party Agreements, Al Pfister, Gary Skiba, Tim Lehmann

Endangered Species Act Congressional Field Tour (August 17-19)

8 pages (includes illustrations and maps).

Contains references.

Day 2: Thursday, 18 August 2005: Canada Lynx Reintroduction, Gary Skiba, Rob Edward, Bonnie Kline

Endangered Species Act Congressional Field Tour (August 17-19)

5 pages (includes some color illustrations and maps).

Contains references.

Agenda: Endangered Species Act Congressional Field Tour, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Endangered Species Act Congressional Field Tour (August 17-19)

The Center sponsored its third annual field tour for staff members of the United States Congress, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the Colorado state legislature.

The Effectiveness Of The Endangered Species Act: A Quantitative Analysis, Martin F.J. Taylor, Kieran F. Suckling, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Population trends for 1095 species listed as threatened and endangered under the Endangered Species Act were correlated with the length of time the species were listed and the presence or absence of critical habitat and recovery plans. Species with critical habitat for two or more years were more than twice as likely to have an improving population trend in the late 1990s, and less than half as likely to be declining in the early 1990s, as species without. Species with dedicated recovery plans for two or more years were significantly more likely to be improving and less likely to be …

Recovery Of Imperiled Species Under The Endangered Species Act: The Need For A New Approach, Dale Goble

Articles

The recovery (delisting) of a threatened or endangered species is often accompanied by the expectation that conservation management of the species will no longer be necessary. However, the magnitude and pace of human impacts on the environment make it unlikely that substantial progress will be made in delisting many species unless the definition of “recovery” includes some form of active management. Preventing delisted species from again being at risk of extinction may require continuing, species-specific management actions. We characterize such species as “conservation-reliant”, and suggest that viewing “recovery” as a continuum of states rather than as a simple “recovered/not recovered” …

2004 Legislative Review, Joshua D. Hodes

Animal Law Review

No abstract provided.

Slides: Lessons Learned From The Development And Implementation Of An Adaptive Management Plan At Three Hydropower Plants In Northeastern Washington State, Bob Dach

Best Management Practices and Adaptive Management in Oil and Gas Development (May 12-13)

Presenter: Bob Dach, Federal Activities Specialist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mountain-Prairie Region, Lakewood, CO

11 slides

Taking Adaptive Management Seriously: A Case Study Of The Endangered Species Act, J.B. Ruhl

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

If one compares the way in which the ESA was implemented in 1982 to the way it is today, the list of differences would far outweigh the similarities. Indeed, the ESA has been transformed so much through administrative reform toward the ecosystem management model, I have dared to suggest elsewhere that it has earned the seal of eco-pragmatism. In this Article, I explore the related question such an assertion necessarily begs-has the ESA also earned the seal of adaptive management?... Part I of the Article provides the legal and ecological background necessary to appreciate the need for ecosystem management, and …

Biodiversity And Mom, John Copeland Nagle

Journal Articles

In December 1973, Congress enacted the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The law was the latest, and greatest, federal effort to prevent wildlife from becoming extinct. The members of Congress who voted for the law always mentioned bald eagles, grizzly bears, whooping cranes, alligators, and whales—the animals, in short, that today are most likely to be memorialized as Beanie Babies. They were also aware of the species that had already disappeared from the earth, such as the passenger pigeon and the great auk. Such images yielded an overwhelming vote in favor of the law. President Nixon signed it on December 28, …

Prohibiting Conduct, Not Consequences: The Limited Reach Of The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Benjamin Means

Michigan Law Review

Dissatisfied with the protection afforded wildlife by more recent environmental laws, some environmentalists seek to reinterpret one of the oldest federal environmental laws, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). Long understood simply to regulate hunting, the MBTA makes it illegal to "take" or "kill" migratory birds without a permit. The MBTA imposes strict liability for a violation. A heady combination of strict liability, criminal penalty provisions, and vague language, the MBTA appeals to those seeking to control land use activity. Some environmentalists advocate an interpretation of the MBTA that, contrary to legislative intent and 80 years of enforcement practice, would …