New Mexico Ranchers Lose Bid to Undo Bird’s Endangered Status

A group of New Mexico ranchers failed to overturn the government’s designation of a songbird as endangered after a federal appeals court ruled that the US Fish and Wildlife Service reasonably explained its listing decision.

The Administrative Procedure Act didn’t require the agency to use a “falsifiable” standard when reviewing data choices and study designs when considering whether the southwestern willow flycatcher is a subspecies of the endangered willow songbird, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit said Friday.

“The Service’s decision not to delist the southwestern willow flycatcher was reasonable, reasonably supported, and adequately explained, and its ...