ELR Citation: 54 ELR 20135
No(s). 3:23-cv-00032-SLG (D. Alaska Sep 26, 2024) (Gleason, J.)

A district court granted the state of Alaska's request to set aside and enjoin NMFS' final rules designating critical habitat for the Beringia distinct population segment of the bearded seal and for the Arctic ringed seal. The state argued NMFS violated the ESA by failing to designate specific areas as critical habitat, failing to consider all of the species' global habitat, failing to designate specific areas that contained essential habitat features, failing to explain how essential habitat features would be protected, failing to analyze whether each designation was prudent, and failing to take into consideration economic, national security, and other relevant impacts when designating critical habitat. The court found NMFS' failure to consider any foreign efforts to conserve the seals and failure to articulate a satisfactory explanation for why the entirety of the designated areas in U.S. territory were indispensable to survival and recovery were arbitrary and capricious, and that the Service abused its discretion in deciding not to consider exclusion of any areas from critical habitat; but that the Service adequately explained how it identified areas where the dynamic sea ice essential features would be found and adequately determined that the seals' essential habitat features may need special management considerations or protections from potential threats. It declined to read into the ESA or its regulations a requirement for an express prudency determination when making a critical habitat designation. It vacated the Service's final rules and remanded to the agency for further proceedings.