Press Release

June 05, 2025

Fish & Wildlife Service Modifies Permit Renewal to Protect Endangered Warbler

ELPC solo comments to FWS protects Kirtland's warbler delicate Michigan habitat

A recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) approval of a right-of-way permit renewal for a pipeline company in Michigan will now include protections for the nearly-extinct Kirtland’s warbler, thanks to comments submitted by the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) during the public comment period. ELPC was the only party to comment on a proposed plan by the FWS to renew the 30-year right-of-way for the Saginaw Bay Pipeline Company that’s located within the Kirtland’s warbler Wildlife Management Area in Ogemaw County, Michigan.

The Kirtland’s warbler was one of the first to be listed as endangered after the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and only came off the list in 2019. The Kirtland’s warbler is one of the rarest songbirds in North America, and breeds only in young jack pine forests in Michigan and adjacent parts of Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada.

Based upon ELPC’s comments, the FWS agreed last week to modify the right-of-way permit renewal, also known as a Compatibility Determination, to include clearer stipulations to protect wildlife and habitat over the full term of the renewal period. These modifications in the final approval include the following:

• clarifying that the pipeline company must obtain a special use permit to conduct any maintenance in the right-of-way area;
• that the permit renewal does not allow the pipeline company to undertake any activity other than maintenance in that area, so no expansion of the pipeline or new construction is allowed;
• and that any pesticides or herbicides applied by the company in the area would need to be approved by the FWS.

“This is a good day for the Kirtland’s warbler, a bird listed as an endangered species through most of 2019 that deserves protection,” said Wendy Bloom, Senior Attorney at ELPC. “As a result of ELPC’s work, the Service agreed to include express protections to ensure the health and habitat of this bird. While ELPC submitted the comments without any partners, we are thankful for input prior to submission from Michigan Audubon.”

Most important, ELPC was concerned that some language in the stipulations the FWS included in the Draft permit renewal were too vague and left gaps that might allow the pipeline company to conduct more substantial upgrades or pipeline expansions, rather than pure maintenance activities, without requirement of FWS first conducting a new compatibility determination. The vague language was removed from the final permit.