Conservationists sue over Endangered Species Act designation for pond turtles

The suit, filed Wednesday by three groups, isn't the first legal action with the turtles as focus.PORTLAND (CN) — A handful of conversation groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday over what they call a failure to implement protections for northwestern and southwestern pond turtles.The Center for Biological Diversity and others claim in their suit that the service should have issued final listing rules in October 2024, designating the turtles as threatened. It missed that deadline, leading the plaintiffs to ask a federal judge in Oregon to declare the service in violation of the Endangered Species Act and order it to issue the final listing rules.“It’s inexcusable that it takes multiple lawsuits to get the Trump administration to protect imperiled wildlife like the northwestern and southwestern pond turtles,” said Meg Townsend, a senior freshwater attorney at the center, in a statement. “The longer these adorable turtles wait, the more endangered they become as the wetlands and forests where they live are lost to development, logging and wildfire.”The plaintiffs, which also include the Friends of the Columbia Gorge and Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, say their members recreate in areas where pond turtles live. The service’s failure to issue final listing rules, protecting the turtles as a threatened species under the act, has injured group members and necessitates the court to act.The groups say one of its members has seen turtle habitat degrade over time. The service has drained part of a lake, which has led to fewer basking structures like rocks or logs. In turn, fewer turtles visit the area.The plaintiffs noted in a statement that the turtles are two of three freshwater turtles native to the Pacific Coast. Living in wetlands and rivers and laying their eggs in nearby uplands with sandy banks or fields, they once flourished on the coasts of Washington state, Oregon and California. However, their numbers have dropped as they contend with habitat loss and predation from the introduction of other species, as well as climate change.Failing to issue the listing rules that would designate the turtles as a threatened species, the service has left them exposed to habitat degradation and loss, the groups said.“The relief sought herein — including an order directing the service to issue final listing rules by a date certain — would redress those harms,” they say in the complaint. “Plaintiffs and their members have no other adequate remedy at law.”The struggle to get protections for the turtles is over a decade long.Initially, the species fell under one category — western pond turtles. The center in 2012 petitioned the service to protect them under the ESA, as evidence showed they faced extinction, the plaintiffs said.The distinct designations of northwestern and southwestern pond turtles occurred in 2017. Both of the newly recognized species are more endangered than the former western pond turtle, they added.According to the groups, the service made no decision on the original petition, leading the center to sue in 2020. The agency agreed to deliver a decision by October 2023.That month, in response to the initial lawsuit, the service proposed naming both turtle species as threatened. However, it never issued a final rule on that proposal, the groups claim.“Pond turtles are not only intrinsically valuable as living beings but also serve as key indicators of healthy aquatic and riparian ecosystems and nearby upland forests,” said Sydney Wilkins, conservation attorney at the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, in a statement. “These special creatures play an important role in the American West’s natural heritage and we want them to persist on the landscape.”The Interior Department and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service couldn’t be reached for comment.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads