12-22-2004, 03:33 PM
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Judge orders review on status of cutthroat trout
Becky Bohrer THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BILLINGS, Mont. -- A federal judge in Colorado has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to re-evaluate the status of Yellowstone cutthroat trout and whether the fish should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
The agency "arbitrarily and capriciously" concluded that a petition seeking federal protection for the fish did not present "substantial information" that such protection was warranted, U.S. District Judge Phillip S. Figa wrote in his decision.
Figa ordered the Fish and Wildlife Service to complete a 12-month review from which it would make a decision.
Conservation groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, hailed the decision. The Fish and Wildlife Service has not yet decided whether it will appeal, an official said Tuesday.
The matter dates to 1998, when a coalition of conservation groups filed a petition asking that the interior secretary list the Yellowstone cutthrout trout as threatened, citing threats such as habitat degradation and whirling disease.
The Fish and Wildlife Service rejected the request in 2001, saying the petition didn't contain "substantial information indicating that listing may be warranted" and that some of the information it did contain was outdated or contradictory.
Conservation groups challenged that decision, asking that the agency be required to re-evaluate listing.
Figa said in his decision the petition for protection did contain "substantial evidence" that listing as threatened may be warranted.This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D3.
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[/url] | [url "http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Recommend_Us&file=index&req=FriendSend&sid=43362"][/url]Judge orders review on status of cutthroat trout
Becky Bohrer THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BILLINGS, Mont. -- A federal judge in Colorado has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to re-evaluate the status of Yellowstone cutthroat trout and whether the fish should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
The agency "arbitrarily and capriciously" concluded that a petition seeking federal protection for the fish did not present "substantial information" that such protection was warranted, U.S. District Judge Phillip S. Figa wrote in his decision.
Figa ordered the Fish and Wildlife Service to complete a 12-month review from which it would make a decision.
Conservation groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, hailed the decision. The Fish and Wildlife Service has not yet decided whether it will appeal, an official said Tuesday.
The matter dates to 1998, when a coalition of conservation groups filed a petition asking that the interior secretary list the Yellowstone cutthrout trout as threatened, citing threats such as habitat degradation and whirling disease.
The Fish and Wildlife Service rejected the request in 2001, saying the petition didn't contain "substantial information indicating that listing may be warranted" and that some of the information it did contain was outdated or contradictory.
Conservation groups challenged that decision, asking that the agency be required to re-evaluate listing.
Figa said in his decision the petition for protection did contain "substantial evidence" that listing as threatened may be warranted.This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D3.
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