The Trump administration’s wholesale slashing of the Fish and Wildlife Service staff could prove costly if it means more missed Endangered Species Act deadlines.
While the federal agency’s staff has shrunk, the ESA’s statutory deadlines that govern species listing and delisting and critical habitat designation remain iron-clad. The result could be greater vulnerability to missed-deadline lawsuits that can end up forcing the Fish and Wildlife Service’s hand and costing the government money.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service and public lands agencies have been underfunded and short-staffed for a long time, and this is only going to exacerbate already existing problems,” Sarah McMillan, a senior attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center, said in an interview Thursday.
McMillan added that the Fish and Wildlife Service’s shrunken staffing will inevitably hinder “deadline decisions for listing and delisting,” as well as complicate “all of the ESA implementation” measures that range from biological opinions to incidental take permits and habitat conservation plans.
