AUSTIN – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) released a long overdue report recommending that the U.S. Secretary of the Interior downgrade the Golden-Cheeked Warbler bird species’ status from “endangered” to “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The original administrative petition to remove the Warbler from the endangered species list was filed in 2015. The FWS report was finally published after a federal district court judge ruled in September 2024 that the agency failed to meet the statutory standard for its review of the species’ status under the ESA. The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s (TPPF) attorneys had argued it was illegal for the FWS to refuse to comply with a January 2020 order from a federal appellate court to determine whether delisting may be appropriate under current conditions.

TPPF represented the Texas General Land Office in this fight for Texans’ private property rights. Since 1990, the protected status of the Warbler has severely restricted the use of certain private property in Central Texas and blocked critical economic development for the region, even though studies show the Warbler has likely recovered.

“The down-listing is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough,” said Ted Hadzi-Antich, TPPF senior attorney and lead counsel on the case. “As we argued in our case filed in federal court, it is time to delist the Warbler species because the species is thriving.”

TPPF attorney Connor Mighell added, “The FWS has finally completed this report, several years past its deadline. The best available data show the Warbler has much more habitat and a much higher population than FWS previously believed. The FWS should take its next action in accordance with that information, and should apply the correct legal standard when evaluating that data.”

“As Texas Land Commissioner, I am encouraged with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommendation to down-list the Golden-Cheeked Warbler from endangered to threatened following a thorough review of the evidence,” said Commissioner Dawn Buckingham. “The GLO is proud to lead the charge on this fight along with TPPF to ensure property owners can make their own decisions for their land without the federal government impeding with an unjustified Endangered Species Act classification.”

To read the report, click here.

For additional background on the case, click here.

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Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit free-market research institute based in Austin that aims to foster human flourishing by protecting and promoting liberty, opportunity, and personal responsibility. The Center for the American Future defends the Constitution through legal opposition to government overreach. The Center launches legal challenges at the administrative, district, and appellate court levels on behalf of ordinary people whose lives, liberty, and property are threatened by government action in defiance of the Constitution.

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