Ninth Circuit Upholds Decision to End Failed Endangered Species Relocation Program

Somach Simmons Dunn (00864836xBA9D6)

Environmental Law & Policy Alerts

March 7, 2018

Ninth Circuit Upholds Decision to End Failed Endangered Species Relocation Program

On March 1, 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the federal government has an obligation to end a federal program intended to protect endangered species once it was clear that the program was no longer effective.  Cal. Sea Urchin Comm’n v. Bean (2018) 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 5230.  The decision was a consolidated review of two separate federal district court cases, each brought by fishing industry groups alleging that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) exceeded its authority by terminating a 1987 sea otter translocation program.  Both district courts held that the FWS’s interpretation of the authorizing statute as allowing the failed program to be terminated was reasonable. … Read More

Written by Michelle E. Chester