Bartel

U S Attorney CV, Thomas C. Stahl, U S Attorneys Office Southern District Of California Civil Division, San Diego, CA, Jane P. Davenport, Keith W. Rizzardi, Wildlife and Marine Resources Section, Environment and National Resources Divis U S Department of Justice, Martin McDermott, US Department of Justice, Environmental Defense Section, Washington, DC, Stephen M. Macfarlane, United States Department of Justice, Environmental Natural Resource Divison, Sacremento, CA, for Defendants/Cross Defendants.

Stephen J. Odell, Law Offices of Stephen J. Odell, Portland, OR, William E. Halle, Hewitt and O'Neil Llp, Irvine, CA, for Intervenor Defendant.

John Peter Mullen, Richard A. Duvernay, Office of the City Attorney Civil Division, San Diego, CA, for Cross Defendant.

BREWSTER, Senior District Judge.

In this Endangered Species Act ("ESA," 16 U.S.C. งง 1531-1544) case, fourteen national, state, and local conservation and environmental groups [1] (hereinafter "Plaintiffs") challenge the decision of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service [2] (hereinafter "FWS" or "Federal Defendants") to issue an incidental take permit ("ITP") under ง 10 of the ESA to the City of San Diego [3] based…