Action timeline

July 17, 2008 – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dismissed a petition by off-road vehicle interest groups to remove the Peirson’s milk-vetch from the endangered species list, determining that the plant was still threatened with extinction by rampant off-road vehicle activities in its habitat.

March 6, 2008 – The Center, Public Employees for Responsibility, Desert Survivors, and the Sierra Club filed notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for reductions in the Peirson's milk-vetch’s critical habitat.

January 2008 – The Service published a final rule reducing the species' critical habitat to just 12,105 acres.

2007 – The Service issued a new critical habitat proposal for the federally and state-protected milk-vetch. The new proposal identified only 16,108 acres of land in the Algodones Dunes as habitat necessary for the survival and recovery of the rare plant — a 25-percent reduction of currently protected critical habitat.

2006 – The Court ruled to uphold current protections for Algodones Dunes and its imperiled endemic species, reinforcing the supremacy of the Endangered Species Act over off-road recreational vehicle use.

2004 – The Service designated only 21,800 acres of critical habitat for the milk-vetch — an area nearly 60 percent smaller than the original proposal of 52,780 acres. The Service rejected a petition from the off-road industry to remove Endangered Species Act protection for the milk-vetch, finding that the rare flowering plant is harmed by off-road use and needs ongoing legal protection.

2003 – The Service proposed that 52,780 acres of the Algodones Dunes be designated as critical habitat for the survival and recovery of the Peirson’s milk-vetch.

2000 – The Center and allies won a settlement placing 48,000 acres of the Algodones Dunes off limits to off-road vehicles; in another round of negotiations, the protection area was increased to 49,130 acres. In total, 81,550 acres, or 54 percent of the dunes area, were protected for Peirson’s milk-vetch and other imperiled desert species.