ELR Citation: 54 ELR 20044
No(s). 3:22-cv-00249-JMK (D. Alaska Mar 20, 2024) (Kindred, J.)

A district court denied the state of Alaska's and North Slope Borough's challenge to NMFS' decision not to delist the Arctic ringed seal as an endangered species following their 2019 petition. The plaintiffs argued NMFS failed to credit new information from FWS' analysis, failed to credit the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change fifth assessment report's (AR5's) new information, and failed to credit new biological information. The court found NMFS' 90-day finding provided a reasonable explanation concerning FWS' decision, the AR5 modeling, and the updated population data. It denied plaintiffs' challenge and upheld the 90-day finding.