Description: Challenge to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule that authorized “incidental take” of polar bears and Pacific walruses from oil and gas activities in and along the Beaufort Sea.
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Center for Biological Diversity v. Kempthorne
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 12/02/2009 Opinion Download Dismissal affirmed. The Ninth Circuit held that companies exploring for oil and gas in the Beaufort Sea could accidently disturb polar bears and Pacific walruses without violating federal law. The court held that the incidental take rules for the animals in and around the sea, which is on Alaska’s north coast, were carefully and properly issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2006. The court ruled that the climate change evidence presented by the Center for Biological Diversity showed only a “generalized threat to polar bear populations” and did not show a significant impact. -
Center for Biological Diversity v. Kempthorne
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 04/22/2008 Order Download Summary judgment granted to defendants and claims dismissed. -
Center for Biological Diversity v. Kempthorne