WildEarth Guardians v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States District Court for the District of Utah
622 F. Supp. 2d 1155 (2009)
- Written by Robert Cane, JD
Facts
The Utah prairie dog was a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (the act). The prairie dogs inhabited colonies at the Cedar City golf course (golf course) and on Paiute Indian Tribe (the tribe) land, which constituted 18 acres total. In 1994, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (the service) (defendant) developed procedures to relocate prairie dogs from private lands. In 2003, Cedar City and the tribe submitted a habitat-conservation plan to the service to get a permit under the act to take (here, trap and relocate) a number of prairie dogs annually. The habitat-conservation plan proposed the use of Wild Pea Hollow as a permanent prairie dog habitat. At the time, 19 acres were already inhabited by prairie dogs and 198 additional acres were potentially suitable for prairie dogs if the land was revegetated. The service found that the proposed habitat-conservation plan was not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the species because the colony of prairie dogs at the golf course was isolated from other colonies and did not contribute to genetic mixing of the species. Further, the service found that the mitigation measures proposed by Cedar City and the tribe would adequately mitigate the loss of habitat on golf course and tribal land. In 2005, the service had information that indicated that the prairie dog population at Wild Pea Hollow had been steadily increasing since 1998. In January 2007, the service granted 20-year incidental-take permits to Cedar City and the tribe. The service also released a biological opinion and an incidental-take statement to explain and support its decision. In 2007, the prairie dog population crashed at Wild Pea Hollow, and revegetation was slower than expected due to a prolonged drought. WildEarth Guardians (plaintiff) challenged the service’s issuance of the two incidental-take permits to Cedar City and the tribe, claiming that the habitat-conservation plan did not adequately mitigate the relocation’s impact on the prairie dogs.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Waddoups, J.)
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