Jaguars No Longer Have Protected Land in New Mexico

[Judi Lynn]

January 27, 2021VICTORIA PRIESKOP

After a years-long battle to protect the designation of stretches of the southwest as a protected habitat for the jaguar, a federal judge has ruled that the New Mexico land should no longer be protected for the largest New World cat.



El Jefe, one of the few wild jaguars in the United States. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
(CN) — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that two sections of land in New Mexico should no longer be designated as critical habitat for jaguars.

In 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated six areas as critical habitat for jaguars, including portions of Arizona and New Mexico, based on sightings of jaguars in those areas.

Wild jaguars have been spotted and photographed in Southern Arizona and Hidalgo County, New Mexico, though the species is generally associated with tropical climates.

In 2015, New Mexico Farm & Livestock Bureau, New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association and New Mexico Federal Lands Council sued the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

More:
https://www.courthousenews.com/jaguars-no-longer-have-protected-land-in-new-mexico/

[Karadeniz]

1. Greedy...they were here first...

[SunSeeker]

2. Such breathtakingly beautiful creatures. It is terrible that the 10th Circuit doesn't care.

Biden needs to appoint a lot of federal judges to make up for O'Connell's court packing.

[nam78_two]

3. Well that sucks.nt

[Lola2mom]

4. Trump appointed judge?

[brachism]

5. Appointments don't always vote the way you expect, esp. when there is more to the story

From the OP's article

Due in part to the very few sightings of jaguars in New Mexico, Judge Gonzales found on Wednesday that the Wildlife Service’s designation of the land in New Mexico as unoccupied critical habitat for jaguars was inappropriate.

“Although vacating the critical habitat designations for Units 5 and 6 will undoubtedly harm the jaguar to some degree as Defendant-Intervenors describe,” Gonzales wrote, “the Court finds that such harm is minimal at best.”

Gonzales further judged that, “the jaguar is not at risk of irreversible extinction if the Court should vacate the critical habitat designations.”

Per Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_John_Gonzales

On November 14, 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Gonzales to serve as a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, to the seat vacated by Judge Bruce D. Black who assumed senior status on October 1, 2012.[1] On January 2, 2013, his nomination was returned to the President, due to the adjournment sine die of the Senate. On January 3, 2013, he was renominated to the same office. His nomination was reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 11, 2013, by voice vote.[3] On June 17, 2013, the Senate confirmed his nomination by a vote of 89–0. He received his commission on August 9, 2013 and took the judicial oath the same day. He commenced judicial duties on August 12, 2013. He maintains chambers in Las Cruces, New Mexico.