Federal Court Finds Interior Secretary Norton in Violation on Lynx
Agency Slammed for Refusal to Protect Wild Forest Cat
(01/02/2003) - WASHINGTON --Defenders of Wildlife today hailed a recent ruling by United States District Judge Gladys Kessler that Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and her department violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to adequately protect the lynx, a wild cat emblematic of the north woods. The federal court granted summary judgment in favor of Defenders of Wildlife in Defenders of Wildlife v. Norton, a suit challenging inadequacies in the rule listing the lynx as a threatened species."This is the fifth successful lawsuit brought by Defenders of Wildlife and other conservation groups against the federal agencies responsible for lynx recovery, we hope it will be the last," said William Snape, Vice President and Chief Counsel for Defenders of Wildlife. "Yet again, it took a court order to break through Bush Administration footdragging and give this wild cat a better chance of surviving the many obstacles to its recovery."
Defenders of Wildlife brought this suit to correct deficiencies in the court-ordered ruling listing the lynx as threatened on March 24, 2000. United States District Judge Gladys Kessler of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted Defenders' motion for summary judgment and ruled:
-The Fish and Wildlife Service acted arbitrarily, capriciously, and in violation of the Endangered Species Act by claiming three of the four lynx zones in the continental U.S. - the Northeast, Great Lakes, and Southern Rockies - do not amount to a significant portion of the range of the lynx. The Fish and Wildlife Service had written the lynx listing rule so that these three huge areas could largely be ignored in favor of lynx recovery in the Northern Rockies and Cascade Mountains in the northwest. The agency must now reconsider the lynx's status across all four areas.
-Defendants must promptly identify critical habitat for the lynx as required by law. Due to the agencies' repeated recalcitrance, Judge Kessler took the extra steps of retaining control over this process and requiring 60 day progress reports from the agencies. According to her ruling, the Department of Interior and Fish and Wildlife Service have "undermined the purpose and function of the consultation process . . . of the ESA . . . and precluded the Fish and Wildlife Service from issuing Biological opinions which satisfy the standards of that provision of the statute."
-In the first ruling of its kind, Judge Kessler granted Defenders' request to require formal consultation on all projects in lynx habitat until the agencies identify critical habitat for the lynx. Without this injunctive relief, the agencies could continue their current practice of signing off on damaging projects in lynx habitat with minimal analysis of total impacts.
"This is a huge victory for all species in our northern forests, and could slow the Bush Administration's headlong rush to undermine wildlife and environmental protections in our national forests" said Snape. Eric Glitzenstein of Meyer & Glitzenstein represented Defenders of Wildlife in Defenders of Wildlife v. Norton.
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Defenders of Wildlife is one of the nation’s most progressive advocates for wildlife and habitat, and was named as one of America’s Top 100 Charities by Worth magazine. With more than 430,000 members and supporters, including nearly 100,000 in California, Defenders is an effective voice for the environment. To learn more about Defenders of Wildlife, please visit www.defenders.org.
Contact(s):
Brad DeVries, (202) 772-0237
