The U.S. Navy must now reveal more about its work protecting endangered species on the Pacific island of Guam, a federal judge has ordered.
Citing precedents from other environmental cases, Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood ruled that Navy officials will have to show more about how they are complying with the Endangered Species Act as it proceeds with major road and other construction projects.
The judge’s Dec. 12 order does not end the underlying lawsuit. It does, however, push the Navy to more fully account for the ESA-related work it says has been done as the U.S. military relocated thousands of Marines and their dependents to Guam from Okinawa.
“The decision squarely rejected the military’s attempt to hide its actions and recognized that transparency and accountability are essential when endangered wildlife and irreplaceable island ecosystems are on the line,” said Maxx Phillips, the Hawaii and Pacific Islands director and staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement.
