Action timeline

March 11, 1967 – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the San Joaquin kit fox as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

June 27, 1971 – The San Joaquin kit fox was declared threatened under the California Endangered Species Act.

1983 – The kit fox was included in the Upland Species of the San Joaquin Valley Recovery Plan.

September 30, 1998 – The Upland Species of the San Joaquin Valley Recovery Plan was finalized.

February 2006 – The Center published Poisoning Our Imperiled Wildlife, a report on San Francisco Bay Area endangered species — including the San Joaquin kit fox — at risk from pesticides.

May 30, 2007 – The Center filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for registering and allowing the use of 56 toxic pesticides in the habitats of 11 Bay Area endangered species, including the San Joaquin kit fox, without determining whether the chemicals jeopardize those species' existence.

February 25, 2009 – The Center and Desert Survivors asked the Bureau of Land Management's California state director to stop plans to lease 23 parcels of public land in San Joaquin kit fox habitat for oil and gas development without properly considering the environment. The same day, we filed a notice of intent to sue the Bureau for violating the Endangered Species Act by refusing to adequately address the impacts of its lease sale on the kit fox.

August 5, 2010 – The Center and Los Padres Forest Watch petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to designate critical habitat for the San Joaquin kit fox.

February 20, 2013 – The Center for Biological Diversity submitted a formal notice of intent today to sue the California Department of Pesticide Regulation to protect the endangered San Joaquin kit fox, golden eagle, Pacific fisher and other wildlife from unintended poisonings from “super-toxic” rat poisons.

January 5, 2017 – The Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety filed a lawsuit challenging Kern County's approval of the sprawling 8,000-acre Grapevine project, a development hat would destroy habitat for 36 rare plants and animals — including the San Joaquin kit fox, blunt-nosed leopard lizard and threatened San Joaquin antelope squirrel.

Photo courtesy USFWS