Ranchers fight radical ESA lawsuit that would criminalize innocent mistakes

Associations of farmers and ranchers in the Southwest have just moved to intervene to oppose an activist group’s lawsuit that seeks to radically expand prosecutions under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) list. The activist lawsuit aims to impose criminal liability for “takes” (i.e., harms) that happen by innocent mistake, such as by not recognizing the species, or not knowing it was listed, or causing harm in an entirely inadvertent and unintended way.The activist lawsuit is WildEarth Guardians v. U.S. Department of Justice, pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. The organizations that filed a motion to intervene late yesterday are: the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association, New Mexico Farm & Livestock Bureau, and New Mexico Federal Lands Council. They are all represented by Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), the leading watchdog organization for limited government, property rights and a balanced approach to environmental regulations. Donor-supported PLF represents these organizations free of charge, as with all PLF clients.  The clear language of the ESA spares innocent people from prosecution by limiting criminal liability to offenders who “knowingly” harmed a listed species. Under what is officially known as the McKittrick Policy, the U.S. Department of Justice interprets the “knowingly” requirement in the term’s literal sense, so that criminal liability does not apply unless the defendant knew that her actions would cause “take” and the identity of the species affected. The clear language of the ESA spares innocent people from prosecution by limiting criminal liability to offenders who “knowingly” harmed a listed species. Under what is officially known as the McKittrick Policy, the U.S. Department of Justice interprets the “knowingly” requirement in the term’s literal sense, so that criminal liability does not apply unless the defendant knew that her actions would cause “take” and the identity of the species affected. WildEarth Guardians is suing to invalidate that DOJ interpretation and policy, and twist the ESA’s intent, by imposing criminal liability even when there is no knowing commission of a wrong. The lawsuit is directed at harms to Mexican wolves in the Southwest, but its effects would extend nationwide, to “takes” of any of the more than 1,500 species on the ESA list...more