WildEarth Guardians et al. v. Ashe et al.
Guardians claimed a decisive victory for the protection and recovery of Mexican gray wolves on April 2, 2018, when a Federal District Court in Arizona invalidated much of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)’s final rule for the critically endangered lobo. The ruling requires the FWS to reconsider the “experimental non-essential” designation for Mexican wolves, while also invalidating an artificial population cap and a geographic boundary that restrict where wolves can roam. The court found both to be arbitrary and capricious.
The ruling stems from a July 2015 Guardians lawsuit alleging the FWS violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) with regard to the agency’s shifting policies concerning the reintroduction and recovery of the Mexican gray wolf. The lawsuit challenged a January 2015 FWS final rule that refused to consider the only wild population of Mexican gray wolves “essential” to the species’ recovery. There are approximately 114 Mexican gray wolves surviving in the wild today. The original final rule, however, remains in effect until FWS issues a new final rule in accordance with the court’s rulings and adherent to the ESA and NEPA.
