ELR Citation: 54 ELR 20016
No(s). 651-BAJ-EWD (M.D. La. Jan 29, 2024) (Jackson, J.)

A district court denied nonprofit groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to FWS' 2016 decision to delist the Louisiana black bear after determining its population had recovered and was no longer threatened. The groups argued FWS should not have included the Upper Atchafalaya River Basin subpopulation in its analysis because the bears there are not truly native to Louisiana, that it should have considered the loss of historical range and population, that its threat analysis was arbitrary and capricious, and that its conclusion the bear was not threatened in a "significant portion of its range" was arbitrary and capricious. The court found FWS engaged in a reasoned analysis of the positive and negative effects of hybridization on the bear, properly considered historical range and population, performed a reasoned analysis of threats to the bear's habitat and adequacy of regulatory protections, and reasonably concluded that the bear was not threatened. It denied summary judgment for the groups, and granted FWS' cross-motion.