Description: Challenge to withdrawal of proposal to list the distinct population segment of the North American wolverine as threatened.
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Defenders of Wildlife v. Jewell
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 04/04/2016 Order Download Order issued. Montana Federal Court Said Fish and Wildlife Service Ignored Science When It Withdrew Proposal to List North American Wolverine as Threatened. The federal district court for the District of Montana vacated the withdrawal by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) of a proposal to list the distinct population segment of the North American wolverine as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The court described at length the 20-year period over which the FWS considered whether to list the DPS. The process culminated in the withdrawal of the proposed listing 18 months after it was proposed. In withdrawing the proposal, the FWS reversed course on its previous determinations regarding climate change’s impacts on the wolverine and said it did not have sufficient information to suggest the wolverine population would be at risk of extinction due to climate change. The court agreed with the plaintiffs that the FWS unlawfully ignored the best available science by dismissing the threat to the wolverine posed by climate change and also by dismissing the threat to the wolverine posed by genetic isolation and small population size. The court remanded the matter to the FWS, stating: “It is the undersigned's view that if there is one thing required of the [FWS] under the ESA, it is to take action at the earliest possible, defensible point in time to protect against the loss of biodiversity within our reach as a nation. For the wolverine, that time is now.” 11/20/2015 Reply Download Reply filed by state defendant-intervenors in support of combined cross-motion for summary judgment. 11/20/2015 Reply Download Reply brief filed by defendant-intervenors' American Petroleum Institute et al. in support of cross-motion for summary judgment. 11/06/2015 Reply Download Reply filed by federal defendants' in support of cross-motion for summary judgment. 10/16/2015 Response Download Consolidated response to defendants' motion for summary judgment and reply in support of plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment filed by plaintiffs. 09/25/2015 Reply Download Plaintiffs Defenders of Wildlife et al. filed response to federal defendants' motion for summary judgment and reply in support of plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 09/25/2015 Reply Download Plaintiffs WildEarth Guardians et al. filed response in opposition to defendants motion for summary judgment and reply in support of plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 08/17/2015 Memorandum Download Memorandum filed by defendant-intervenor states in support of defendants cross-motion for summary judgment and in response to conservation organizations' motion for summary judgment. 08/17/2015 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Defendant-intervenors American Petroleum Institute et al. filed cross-motion for summary judgment and response to plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 08/12/2015 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Brief filed in support of federal defendants' motion for summary judgment and opposition to plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 06/04/2015 Motion for Summary Judgment Download Memorandum of law filed in support of plaintiffs WildEarth Guardians et al.'s motion for summary judgment. 05/29/2015 Memorandum Download Memorandum of points and authorities filed by plaintiffs in support of motion for summary judgment. 03/06/2015 Motion to Intervene Download Motion to intervene filed by Wyoming. 02/20/2015 Motion to Intervene Download Memorandum brief filed in support of Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter's motion to intervene. 02/13/2015 Response Download Consolidated response filed by plaintiffs to Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, American Petroleum Institute, and State of Montana motions to intervene. 02/03/2015 Motion to Intervene Download Motion to intervene filed by American Petroleum Institute, Montana Petroleum Association, and Western Energy Alliance. -
Center for Biological Diversity v. Jewell
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 10/13/2014 Complaint Download Complaint filed. A group of environmental organizations challenged the withdrawal of a proposal to list the distinct population segment of the North American wolverine in the contiguous United States as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The complaint said that the wolverine resided in “high-altitude and high-latitude ecosystems characterized by deep snow and cold temperatures” and that its survival in the contiguous U.S. was threatened by climate change, as well as by other threats such as highly isolated and fragmented habitat, extremely low population numbers, intentional and incidental trapping, and disturbance by winter recreation activities. Plaintiffs alleged that the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) based the withdrawal of the proposed listing on “manufactured uncertainty as to climate modeling and wolverine habitat needs and reached speculative conclusions about the wolverine’s future prospects that run directly counter to all of the evidence in the record.” Plaintiffs also alleged that the FWS “arbitrarily dismissed” the non-climate factors that compounded the threat to the wolverine. -
WildEarth Guardians v. Jewell
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 10/16/2015 Response Download Plaintiffs filed response to defendant-intervenors' motion for summary judgment and reply in support of their motion for summary judgment.