Conservation groups sue Biden administration for delayed decision on orchid protections
A coalition of conservation groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday over what they charged are failures to enforce the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The plaintiffs, who include the Institute for Regional Conservation, Center for Biological Diversity and the National Parks Conservation Association, sued over delays in ESA protections for the ghost orchid.
The orchid, native to south Florida, Cuba and the Bahamas, has seen its population decline by about 90 percent globally and by half in Florida. The Florida population is down to an estimated 1,500 plants, the majority of which are too immature to reproduce, according to the plaintiffs.
A confluence of factors has reduced the orchid’s population in Florida, including climate change, habitat depletion and poaching.
While these threats have accumulated over the years, the orchids also face particular danger this year due to a projected above-average 2023 hurricane system along Florida’s southern coast, in combination with record-high sea surface temperatures.
The Fish and Wildlife Service had previously determined that the orchid may merit ESA protections following a petition filed by the plaintiffs, but missed a January deadline to make a final decision.
“Delaying protections will make it that much harder to draw ghost orchids back from the brink of extinction,” attorney Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “These spirits of the swamp need all the help they can get in the face of habitat destruction and increasingly intense storms. Desperately needed federal protections will only come after these orchids have been listed under the Endangered Species Act.”
The Hill has reached out to the Fish and Wildlife Service for comment.
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