Court Ruling Reinstates Modernized Endangered Species Rules

Modernized Endangered Species Act regulations will be reinstated after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that a district court improperly vacated 2019 revisions. The appeals court determined a district court erred by reversing the regulations without determining whether they were actually unlawful.

“We appreciate today’s ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “The revisions to the Endangered Species Act protected at risk animals while ensuring farmers could continue feeding America’s families. This ruling doesn’t bring an end to the debate about modernizing the ESA, but it sends an important message to the 9th Circuit lower courts that their job is to rule based on the law. They can no longer vacate a rule unless they determine it is unlawful.”

This is the second appellate ruling to favor AFBF in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the past month. In August, the Court overturned a lower court’s ruling that prohibited AFBF from defending the delisting of the gray wolf.

Read the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling here.