Center for Biological Diversity – Columbia Basin Bulletin

The Center for Biological Diversity has sued five cabinet-level agencies seeking to stop the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and its DOGE teams from taking further actions against multiple environmental agencies until each team fully complies with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. This is the first lawsuit challenging DOGE’s efforts “to eviscerate the agencies charged with protecting the environment, natural resources and wildlife,” says the Center.

The lawsuit aims to protect the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within the Department of the Interior; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the Department of Commerce; the Environmental Protection Agency; the Forest Service and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service within the Department of Agriculture; and the Federal Aviation Administration within the Department of Transportation.

“Elon Musk and his hacker minions are tearing apart the federal agencies that protect our public lands, keep our air and water clean, and conserve our most cherished wildlife. The public has every right to know why they’re waging this cruel war on our environment,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center. “Musk has shown that he can and will destroy a federal agency in a single weekend. If his deranged antics are allowed to continue, we might never be able to fix the damage to America’s environment.”

President Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order establishing the Department of Government Efficiency requires each federal agency to implement so-called DOGE teams. Because these teams likely include a mix of full-time, part-time, volunteer and special government employees (the designation given to Musk) they must comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, says the lawsuit.

“To date, no agency has even announced its intention to comply with this important transparency law, which applies to advisory committees established by the president,” says the Center.

Since establishing DOGE, Musk and a small number of people have dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, unilaterally terminated federal contracts, and driven the mass firing of thousands of federal workers.

Staffing reductions already implemented by Musk and DOGE have cut approximately 2,300 federal probationary workers from the Interior Department, including 1,000 National Park Service employees, 800 Bureau of Land Management employees and 400 Fish and Wildlife Service employees, roughly 4% of the department’s entire staff. Another 3,400 employees were terminated from the Forest Service and at least 390 employees were laid off at the Environmental Protection Agency.

The lawsuit https://biologicaldiversity.org/programs/government-affairs/pdfs/FACA-DOGE-Complaint.pdf was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The Center for Biological Diversity has filed petitions with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeking Endangered Species Act protections for the Owyhee hot springsnail and Owyhee upland pyrg.

The two snails occur in small, isolated populations in the Owyhee River in the Owyhee Canyonlands, a remote, rugged corner of eastern Oregon known as a geological wonder. Both snails are threatened by habitat destruction from livestock grazing, recreation, invasive species and a warming climate that alters the snails’ sensitive spring habitat, says the petition. The Owyhee River is a tributary of the Snake River.

“Because these snails live in such a remote corner of Oregon, they’re not getting the attention they deserve despite serious threats to their habitat, so action is crucial,” said Camila Cossío, an attorney at the Center. “Endangered Species Act protection would help conserve these snails’ homes and safeguard other wildlife that depend on the same springs.”

Freshwater snails are some of the most imperiled species in the United States. Already 67 species have gone extinct, and more than 450 species are at risk — 64% of all freshwater snail species.

Protecting these snails would also protect the Owyhee River in Oregon’s high desert, the Center notes.

The Owyhee Canyonlands, often referred to as Oregon’s Grand Canyon, were proposed for a federal wilderness designation in 2019 and as a national monument in 2023. If the canyonlands are protected, the canyons, rivers and wildlife found within the monument’s boundaries would be safeguarded from activities that harm wildlife populations and their habitats.

ESA protection is needed to ensure the Owyhee hot springsnails and Owyhee upland pyrg snails are properly monitored and conserved, the Center’s petition says.

The petitions are here: https://biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/endangered_species_act/pdfs/P-Fresti-petition_11-21-2024.pdf

https://biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/endangered_species_act/pdfs/upland-pyrg-listing-petition_11-20-2024.pdf

Lawsuit Filed In Effort To Stop Musk’s DOGE From Taking Further Actions Against Multiple Environmental Agencies

Group Seeks ESA Protections For Two Snails In Southeast Oregon’s Owyhee River

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