Defenders Lawsuit Challenges Failure to Protect Pinyon Jay

Defenders of Wildlife today filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for violating the Endangered Species Act by delaying a final listing determination for the Pinyon Jay to 2028 despite a deadline set by statue for 2023.

“The Service has the data it needs to move forward, and instead is purposely stalling its decision,” said Peggy Darr, Defenders of Wildlife New Mexico representative. “They have solid, scientific evidence showing the Pinyon Jay’s precipitous decline and dire need for federal intervention.”

Defenders acquired internal FWS documents indicating the agency is dragging its feet on obligations mandated under the ESA to the detriment of the Pinyon Jay. Instead of urging completion of the overdue finding as soon as possible, an internal email asked “how far down the road we can kick” the decision. The agency then assigned it an estimated completion date of FY2028 on the “Workplan” it published.

Emails between FWS staff suggest the agency worked backward from  2028 to delay even starting formal work on the species status assessment it will use for the decision until 2025.

“We are holding the Service accountable for its failure to act swiftly to protect this ecologically important songbird,” said Lisa Saltzburg, senior attorney for the Defenders of Wildlife Biodiversity Law Center. “Pushing the listing decision to 2028 not only ignores the law, but also places the Pinyon Jay’s future in serious jeopardy.”

An FWS staff member acknowledged that it “seems very possible” the Pinyon Jay ’s population will severely decline by at least 50% in the coming decades. Despite a plethora of data that supports the need for ESA protection, including Defenders’ 2022 petition, the FWS refuses to do what the law requires to address the needs of the Pinyon Jay.

Background

The Pinyon Jay is a keystone species found in western piñon-juniper landscapes that face numerous significant threats, including climate change-induced mass tree mortality.

Defenders of Wildlife petitioned the FWS for the Pinyon Jay to be listed under the ESA in April 2022. The agency took more than 15 months to announce its initial 90-day finding. In August 2023, the FWS agreed that Defenders had provided information within its petition to possibly extend ESA protections to the Pinyon Jay. The FWS next step of the listing process for the Pinyon Jay should have been the release of its 12-month finding in April 2023.

Under the ESA, the FWS is obligated to determine whether a species warrants endangered or threatened protections within 12 months of receiving a petition presenting substantial information showing such a determination may be warranted.