Posted on 11/26/2011 6:11:09 AM PST by 1010RD
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska's Cook Inlet beluga whales were correctly listed as endangered, a federal judge ruled earlier this week, rejecting a state lawsuit that claimed the listing will hurt economic development.
Judge Royce C. Lambeth of U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., said the National Marine Fisheries Service properly followed requirements of the Endangered Species Act and used the best science available in making its determination.
Cook Inlet beluga whales did not bounce back after a decade, despite a ban on subsistence hunting blamed for depleting their numbers, he said.
"When the best available science predicts that a recently enacted ban on subsistence hunting will reverse the abrupt depletion of a species, a decade without any noticeable recovery in the species population should raise a concern that the true cause of its decline has not been fully addressed," Lambeth wrote.
Sharon Leighow, a spokeswoman for Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell, had no immediate comment on the decision but said the Department of Law would prepare a response.
The state unsuccessfully sued to overturn the listing of polar bears as a threatened species and is suing to overturn restrictions on commercial mackerel and cod fishing in the western Aleutian Islands aimed at protecting endangered Steller sea lions.
Rebecca Noblin, an Anchorage attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of six environmental groups that intervened in the case, said Lambeth's beluga decision shows the state is wasting taxpayer money on a frivolous challenge.
"It's clear that a species that has dropped from 1,300 to less than 400 is in danger of extinction," she said. "It's not surprising the court upheld NMFS's decision."
Cook Inlet stretches 180 miles from Anchorage to the Gulf of Alaska.
Beluga whales, which can reach 15 feet long, are a high-profile species. The white whales feed on salmon, smaller fish, crab, shrimp, squid and clams. In late summer, belugas often can be spotted from highways leading from Anchorage, chasing salmon schooled at stream mouths.
The Cook Inlet population dwindled steadily through the 1980s and early 1990s, Lambeth wrote, and the decline was accelerated between 1994 and 1998 when Alaska Natives harvested nearly half the remaining 650 whales in only four years.
The National Marine Fisheries Service initially determined that controlling subsistence hunting would allow the population to recover. But in October 2008, after a second listing petition had been filed, the agency declared belugas endangered. The state sued and Escopeta Oil Co., which has drilling interests in Cook Inlet, intervened in the case.
The state argued that belugas were already protected by other environmental laws and that the fisheries service failed to consider state conservation programs designed to improve the habitat and food supply of belugas.
Lambeth said most of the efforts cited by the state address larger conservation goals and have only incidental effect on the beluga's chance for survival. Other aspects of state plans were unfunded, he noted.
The state said the listing would deter commercial fishing, oil and gas exploration and tourism and could affect operations at Alaska military installations. The state claimed the fisheries service disregarded and failed to properly respond to information the state provided regarding stability of the population.
Lambeth rejected the state's arguments and said the state appeared to be expressing its disagreement with the fisheries service's results rather than the process the agency used.
"The record amply reflects, however, that the service considered the statutory factors and articulated a rational response for its listing determination, grounded that decision in the best scientific data and provided a full opportunity for public comment before publishing its final rule," he wrote.
What has happened to the environment as Belugas fell to 28% of their previous numbers?
What happened when the American Bison went extinct?
What is the net environmental effect of the following extinctions?:
Baiji River Dolphin
Tecopa Pupfish
Javan Tiger
Bubal Hartebeest
Pyrenean Ibex
Caribbean Monk Seal
Golden Toad
Passenger Pigeon
Quagga
Tasmanian Tiger
Source: http://listverse.com/2009/07/25/10-recently-extinct-animals/
Lambeth’s analysis is sound. He follows the law and the facts both of which support his decision.
The issue then is the law and the broader facts of extinction.
Here’s a longer list of known extinctions: http://roboconsumer.wordpress.com/2007/09/23/extinct-mammals/
Where’s the harm to the environment from extinctions? Or is it simply the missing-penny syndrome wherein the worlds elites must have that missing penny regardless of the cost?
When the best available science predicts
Remember when we last relied on science? Global warming oh I meant climate change errr..... well you know what I mean.
Where do the scientists get thier funding??????? I rest my case!!!
Well, imagine that!
Humans still have a short distance to go before becoming God's.
I believe the judge is female.
Put some in a tank and then freeze some DNA. We can clone them one day,
Problem solved.
I believe I was incorrect.
The Center for Biological Diversity is Goebbel’s Ministry of Propaganda with fur and fins. Everything these Nazis say is a lie.
Cook Inlet beluga whales did not bounce back after a decade, despite a ban on subsistence hunting blamed for depleting their numbers, he said.Subsistence hunting = non-European PreColumbian-style; the election was a few weeks ago. Hope? Change? 2012 is coming.
American Bison did not go extinct and are still eaten. Where does that idea come from?
Far more life forms are found on Earth every year than go extinct. The catalog of life is growing, as is the number of things we're apparently responsible for taking care of forever.
Show me the law.
The issue then is the law and the broader facts of extinction.
Beluga whales are not going extinct.
Here’s a longer list of known extinctions: http://roboconsumer.wordpress.com/2007/09/23/extinct-mammals/
And that's proof of what? Look at the list, it is minor species that were mostly adapted for small areas. Some of those areas could be protected, but natural changes an also make them inhabitable for those species. In most cases the problem was that we imported invasive species that took over the habitat or killed and ate the now-extinct species.
The Cook Inlet population dwindled steadily through the 1980s and early 1990s, Lambeth wrote, and the decline was accelerated between 1994 and 1998 when Alaska Natives harvested nearly half the remaining 650 whales in only four years.
Brilliant, but how long does frozen DNA preserve?
Sorry for the exaggeration. What I meant was that they’ve been removed from their normal range and their wild numbers reduced to about 15000 from estimates in the millions. This reduction has lead to no deleterious effects in the natural environment.
I do know that they are still around and commercially raised. I’ve enjoyed ‘buffalo’ burgers.
http://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/ESACT.HTML
“Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act requires Federal agencies to insure that any action authorized, funded or carried out by them is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of listed species or modify their critical habitat.”
Modifying their critical habitat is the wedge as you are correct and Belugas are not going extinct.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beluga_whale
A species can only be pushed so far before it reaches the point of no return. Just ask Canadian cod fishermen about that. Even after a total ban (too late) on cod fishing, the cod have not returned and never will return. Hey, but who cares if we kill everything in God’s creation as long as we can get some paper with ink splashed on it in return, right?
Well that’s right.
Alsaka didn’t lose, we all did.
The Fishermen the oil industry, jobs went down the tubes, it reminds me of whe they ruined the San Jouquin by turning off their water.
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