Action timeline

July 13, 1989 – The American burying beetle was listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. Only two populations — one in eastern Oklahoma and one on a New England island — were known to exist, and only two live specimens had been located over the span of a decade.

September 27, 1991 – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a federal recovery plan for the American burying beetle.

July 26, 2011 – The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill speeding a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, regardless of whether proper analysis had been done on its environmental impacts — including potentially devastating habitat for the American burying beetle and numerous other endangered species.