Alaska Oil & Gas Association v. Salazar

The federal district court for the District of Alaska entered final judgment dismissing three actions that sought to undo critical habitat designation for polar bears under the Endangered Species Act. The dismissal came several months after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s earlier decision vacating the designation.

The district court denied motions to alter or amend its January 2013 judgment. The court rejected arguments that there were errors in its judgment and noted that defendants and defendants-intervenors could not raise new arguments or previously known and available evidence or rehash arguments previously made. The court also ruled that vacating and remanding FWS’s final rule was a proper remedy even though the court found nothing wrong with 96% of the designated area. The decision noted that polar bears “are presently abundant” and “face no immediate or precipitous decline” and cited plaintiffs’ showing that they would be harmed if the critical habitat designation were left in place. The court also indicated that vacating and remanding was appropriate because it would give the Fish and Wildlife Service another opportunity to involve Alaska Native villages, corporations, and the State of Alaska in the designation process.

A federal district court in Alaska overturned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s designation in 2011 of 187,157 square miles of coastal lands, barrier islands, and ice-dotted marine waters as critical habitat for the polar bear, concluding that the area in question was too big to be justified. The court further held that the agency failed to show sufficient evidence that much of the land and barrier islands included in the designation held polar bear dens, included features suitable for dens, or had areas suitable for maternal bears rearing newly emerged cubs. The court held that the agency could not speculate as to the existence of such features. The court remanded the designation to the agency for further studies.