Enviros seek judgment in wolf case
by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online!
October 31, 2009
Since a federal court judge has indicated a coalition of environmental and animal rights groups will probably prevail in their lawsuit seeking to have wolf delisting in the Northern Rockies null and void, the groups have now filed a motion for summary judgment with the court.
"FWS’s renewed delisting effort rests on contortion, not conservation," the brief states, arguing that instead of using the best available science, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisting wolves by "relying on an antiquated wolf recovery standard that scientists have criticized for over 15 years. An outdated document, even one labeled 'recovery plan,' cannot trump the more recent, comprehensive science that FWS had before it when it delisted wolves."
The motion noted: "FWS asserts that most of the unoccupied habitat in the northern Rockies is of minor importance for wolves because there are great threats to wolves in those areas. Perversely, FWS has written off thousands of acres of wolf habitat because wolves are threatened by human activity and intolerance in those areas. This argument has the tail wagging the wolf—under the Endangered Species Act, FWS must determine whether an area is biologically significant to the species and, if so, whether the species is threatened by human activity or intolerance in that portion of its range. FWS flipped this required analysis on its head."
To read the motion, click on the link below.
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