The Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that the Center for Biological Diversity and the Texas Campaign for the Environment have a right to intervene in a lawsuit regarding the listing of the lesser prairie-chicken.
In mid-September, the court reversed a lower court’s ruling that denied the groups from intervening in the suit. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had listed the species as threatened, but abandoned the decision after the change in administration in 2025 to settle litigation with states and industry groups.
The two environmental groups moved to intervene, but a district court denied their motion as untimely. The district court held the listing to be unlawful, and vacated it and remanded back to the agency.
The court of appeals reversed the denial of intervention, but declined to reach the merits of the listing decision.
