Description: Challenge to listing of polar bear as threatened species under the Endangered Species Act and to Section 4(d) rule establishing measures to protect polar bears.
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Safari Club International v. Jewell
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Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 10/07/2013 Order List Certiorari denied. 07/29/2013 Petition for Writ of Certiorari Download Petition for writ of certiorari filed. A number of hunting groups and individuals filed a petition for writ of certiorari seeking Supreme Court review of the D.C. Circuit’s decision upholding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s designation of polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. -
In re Polar Bear Endangered Species Act Listing and Section 4(d) Rule Litigation
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Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 06/18/2013 Opinion Download Opinion issued upholding importation ban. The D.C. Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision. The D.C. Circuit agreed with the district court’s conclusions that the Endangered Species Act listing for the polar bear had the effect of designating the species as “depleted” for Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) purposes; that once the MMPA import prohibitions were triggered, polar bears could no longer be imported under the MMPA’s trophy import authorization; and that the import prohibitions applied even to bears taken before the species was designated as depleted. The D.C. Circuit also rejected claims that FWS’s determination to bar importation of trophies was procedurally defective. -
In re Polar Bear Endangered Species Act Listing and Section 4(d) Rule Litigation
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Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 04/29/2013 Order Download Petition for panel rehearing denied. 04/29/2013 Order Download Petition for rehearing en banc denied. 03/01/2013 Opinion Download Opinion issued upholding listing. The D.C. Circuit upheld the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s (FWS's) “threatened” designation for polar bears under the Endangered Species Act as a result of climate change, holding that the FWS engaged in reasonable decision-making and adequately explained the scientific basis for its decision. -
In re Polar Bear Endangered Species Act Listing and § 4(d) Rule Litigation
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Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 10/17/2011 Memorandum Opinion Download Memorandum opinion issued regarding Section 4(d) rule. A district court in Washington, DC held that the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) but not the Endangered Species Act (ESA) when it issued a special rule specifying the protective mechanisms that applied to the polar bear as a result of its threatened status. In May 2008, the FWS listed the polar bear as threatened under the ESA and then issued a special rule that, among other things, addressed the threat of direct impacts to individual bears and their habitat from oil and gas exploration and development activities within the species’ current range. Environmental groups filed suit, arguing that the FWS purposely and unlawfully crafted the rule in such a way as to avoid addressing the threat of climate change and that the FWS cannot effectively provide for the conservation of the polar bear without addressing global greenhouse gas emissions. The court held that climate change poses unprecedented challenges of science and policy on a global scale that entitles the agency to great deference, and that, based on the evidence before it, the FWS reasonably concluded that the ESA is not a useful or appropriate tool to alleviate the particular threat to the polar bear from climate change caused by global greenhouse gas emissions. However, the court agreed with the environmental groups that the FWS violated NEPA by failing to analyze the potential environmental impacts of its special rule. The FWS was required to conduct at least an initial assessment to determine whether the rule warranted a full environmental impact statement. 10/17/2011 Memorandum Opinion Download Memorandum opinion issued upholding importation ban. The district court for the District of Columbia upheld FWS’s barring of the importation of polar bear trophies. 06/30/2011 Memorandum Opinion Download Memorandum opinion issued upholding listing determination. A federal district court dismissed challenges to the listing of the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Environmental groups had sued to have the bear classified as endangered, a more protective classification, while Alaska, hunting groups, and others had asked the court to block any listing. The court, deferring to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which made the determination, held that plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that the agency acted irrationally in making its listing decision, noting that the agency considered more than 160,000 pages of documents and over 670,000 comment submissions before making its final decision. 11/04/2010 Memorandum Opinion Download Memorandum opinion issued remanding to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The court remanded the listing rule to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service "for the limited purpose of providing
additional explanation for the legal basis of its listing determination, and for such further action as it may wish to take
in light of the Court’s finding that the definition of an 'endangered species' under the [Endangered Species Act] is ambiguous."12/12/2008 Order Download Initial practice & procedure order issued. -
Center for Biological Diversity v. Kempthorne
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Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 12/04/2008 Order Download Action transferred to the District of the District of Columbia to be coordinated or consolidated with other pending actions. 11/18/2008 Order Download Order issued granting in part motions for leave to intervene by industry trade groups. A number of additional industry groups moved to intervene in the case. The plaintiffs did not challenge the motions, but requested that the intervenors’ involvement in the case be subject to certain limitations. The court ruled that the groups could intervene with respect to the plaintiffs’ Endangered Species Act claims challenging DOI’s decision to classify the polar bear as a threatened species, but not with respect to plaintiffs’ claims that DOI did not comply with the National Environmental Policy Act or the Administrative Procedure Act in doing so. 10/20/2008 Order Download Order issued granting Defenders of Wildlife's motion for leave to intervene. 10/10/2008 Order Download Order issued on motions to transfer. The court denied intervenor-defendant Arctic Slope Regional Corporation's motion to transfer the action to the District of Alaska and took under submission the federal defendants' motion to transfer to the District of the District of Columbia. 10/09/2008 Motion to Intervene Download Motion to intervene filed by industry trade groups. 10/07/2008 Settlement Agreement Download Order issued granting stipulated partial settlement agreement. The parties agreed to a partial settlement pursuant to which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would designate critical habitat for the polar bear by June 30, 2010. 10/02/2008 Order Download Order issued denying intervenors' motions for leave to filed motions for reconsideration of August 13 order on motions for leave to intervene. 10/02/2008 Order Download Order issued tentatively granting Defenders of Wildlife's motion for leave to intervene. 08/13/2008 Order Download Order issued granting in part motions for leave to intervene by Alaska Oil and Gas Association and Arctic Regional Slope Corporation. The court granted the motions of two industry groups to intervene in a case challenging the Department of Interior's (DOI’s) decision to list the polar bear as “threatened” rather than “endangered.” The court limited the participation of both groups to issues in which they had a concrete interest. 06/17/2008 Order Download Order issued denying defendants' motion to strike amended complaint. 05/16/2008 Complaint Amended complaint filed. 05/15/2008 Federal Register Notice Download Final determination of threatened status of polar bear published. 04/28/2008 Order Order issued requiring publication of final listing determination by May 15, 2008. 03/10/2008 Complaint Complaint filed. 01/09/2008 Notice of Intent to Sue Download Notice of intent to sue sent to Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. -
California Cattlemen’s Association v. Kempthorne
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Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 11/25/2008 Memorandum Download Memorandum submitted in support of motion to dismiss. 11/25/2008 Motion to Dismiss Download Motion to dismiss filed. 10/02/2008 Complaint Download Complaint filed. 07/23/2008 Notice of Intent to Sue Download Notice of intent to sue submitted to the Secretary of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concerning listing of the polar bear as a threatened species. -
State of Alaska v. Kempthorne
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Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 08/04/2008 Complaint Complaint filed. -
American Petroleum Institute v. Kempthorne
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Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 08/27/2008 Complaint Complaint filed. Five business and industry trade groups challenged one paragraph of an interim final rule meant to protect polar bears under the Endangered Species Act. The trade groups contended that the interim rule subjected operations in Alaska to stricter permitting and regulations than in other states. The lawsuit did not challenge the listing of the polar bear as threatened. -
Safari Club International v. Kempthorne
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Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 05/23/2008 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Plaintiffs challenged the Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS’s) barring of the importation of polar bear trophies. In its 2008 rule listing the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), FWS had also determined that the listing had the effect of designating the species as “depleted” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), and that the MMPA thus barred continued importation of sport-hunted polar bear trophies. -
Safari Club International v. Kempthorne
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Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 09/08/2008 Complaint Download Complaint filed.