Center for Biological Diversity v. Bureau of Land Management

ORDER RE: CROSS MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs are several environmental organizations who filed an eight count Second Amended Complaint on June 3, 2005, against the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, alleging violations of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq., the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq., the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, 43 U.S.C. §§ 1701-1785 , and the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706 et seq.

Plaintiffs generally allege that defendants have failed adequately to protect two species listed under the Endangered Species Act, the Peirson’s milk-vetch and the desert tortoise. Plaintiffs allege that both species are particularly threatened by off-highway vehicle recreational use in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, and that the proposed management plan for the Dunes does not contain adequate safeguards to. ensure against jeopardizing the continued existence of these species. Defendants are the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”), which manages the Dunes, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”), which consults with the BLM and is…