Bogus Endangered Species Act Protections

for “Wild” Coho Salmon Must Go

March 01, 2004

Contact: Russ Brooks
Phone: (425) 576-0484

Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans. On February 24, PLF’s Northwest Center won a key victory in its ongoing assault on the federal bureaucracy’s reliance on “junk science” to promote political agendas through the Endangered Species Act.

Recall that in September 2001, PLF successfully challenged the listing of the Oregon Coast coho salmon as a threatened species under the ESA. U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service acted illegally in protecting fish spawning in the wild, but not hatchery fish, which are genetically identical. Judge Hogan ruled NMFS could not pick and choose among fish swimming side-by-side in a stream which it would protect and which it would ignore.

Rather than appeal the District Court’s decision, NMFS chose to comply with the court’s order and instituted status reviews of salmon and steelhead listed under the ESA across the western states, from Seattle to San Diego and east to Boise. However, several environmental activist groups that intervened in the case appealed Hogan’s decision to the Ninth Circuit. In a long-awaited ruling, the federal appeals court dismissed their appeal reasoning that the environmentalists could participate like any other concerned individuals in the public process related to the status reviews.

The biggest impact of the decision is that it reinstates the District Court’s order invalidating and setting aside the bogus “wild” coho salmon listing, which had been postponed during the appeal. Consequently, the Oregon Coast coho listing no longer exists and may not be enforced. This PLF victory stands to have huge implications for land stewards and natural resource providers—such as farmers, ranchers, and timber harvesters—as well as local governments and citizens struggling with infrastructure development of schools, hospitals, and highways.

Source: http://www.pacificlegal.org/view_PublicationDetail.asp?iID=229&dt=March 01, 2004&sTitle=Bogus+Endangered+Species+Act+Protections+for+%93Wild%94+Coho+

Salmon+Must+Go&iParentID=5

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