Arizona Cattle Growers Association v. Salazar

Public Citizen assisted in preparing a brief in opposition to the Cattle Growers’ petition for certiorari, which challenged the government’s designation of critical habitat for the endangered Mexican spotted owl. The petition presented the following questions:

1. Did the court of appeals err by approving the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s “baseline” approach to analyzing the economic impact of a “critical habitat” designation rule under the Endangered Species Act, which precludes consideration of economic impact when listing species, but requires it for critical habitat designations?

2. Did the court of appeals err by refusing to set aside the Fish and Wildlife Service’s highly technical and fact-specific designation of the boundaries of “critical habitat” for the Mexican spotted owl?

The Supreme Court denied certiorari.