AUSTIN – Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced its 90-day finding on the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s 2015 petition to remove the Golden-Cheeked Warbler from the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. (ESA). The FWS found that the petition “present[s] substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this document, we announce that we are initiating status reviews of these species to determine whether the petitioned actions are warranted.” 

This will commence a 12-month review that TPPF and the Texas General Land Office have been seeking after approximately ten years since TPPF was a signatory on the original delisting petition. Since then, TPPF has filed and won two federal lawsuits and defended both successfully on appeal to require FWS to comply with its legal obligation to conduct this 12-month review. 

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 current scientific studies show the Warbler is thriving. 

“Texas property owners should be able to make decisions for their own land without the federal government impeding with an unjustified Endangered Species Act listing. Thankfully, after seven years and two federal lawsuits, the USFWS has finally decided to move forward on the issue of delisting the Golden-Cheeked Warbler,” said Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham. “The GLO looks forward to participating in this process and will ensure that ample evidence is presented to justify the much-needed decision to remove this prevalent Central Texas bird from the ESA list.” 

“It’s been a long, hard battle against an intransigent FWS, but ultimately the courts made it clear that the agency had to move on to the 12-month review because the Warbler species is thriving throughout its range.” said Ted Hadzi-Antich, TPPF senior attorney and lead counsel on the case. “The next step will be to participate during the 12-month review to ensure that the Warbler is finally delisted from the ESA’s Endangered Species List, thereby ending this decades-old restraint on private property rights throughout central Texas.” 

TPPF attorney Connor Mighell added, “It’s remarkable that it took FWS nine years to follow the law and apply the proper standard of review to our petition, but now that they have, they should recognize that the best available science shows the Warbler is thriving and should be delisted.” 

To read the FWS finding, click here. 

For additional background on the case, click here.

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