Building Industry Association of Superior California v. Babbitt

OPINION

PAUL L. FRIEDMAN, District Judge.

I. BACKGROUND

“Fairy shrimp” are tiny crustaceans found primarily, although not exclusively, in California’s Central Valley region. Named for their delicate elongated bodies and wing-like thrashing legs, fairy shrimp are endemic to “vernal pools,” sometimes known as seasonal wetlands, which are seasonally wet, isolated water bodies that pond in the winter and spring and evaporate during the summer. Fairy shrimp, the collective term for several similar shrimp species, constitute an important link in the vernal pool ecosystem, providing food for other…