ELR Citation: ELR 20154
No(s). 04-1813 (D. Or. Jul 1, 2009)

A district court remanded a 2005 FWS rule designating critical habitat for bull trout in the Klamath River and Columbia River. Shortly after it was issued, environmental groups filed a complaint challenging the rule as inadequate and contrary to law. In 2008, the DOI Office of the Inspector General issued an investigative report concluding that a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior took actions that potentially jeopardized the ESA decisional process in 13 of its 20 investigated decisions, including the final designation of critical habitat for the bull trout. The FWS then sought a voluntary remand of the rule. The environmental groups requested the court to instead grant them a judgment on the merits and remand the action to FWS to comply with applicable law. But the court concluded that a remand without expending further judicial resources to consider the merits is appropriate. The FWS must complete a draft rule by December 31, 2009, and a final rule by September 30, 2010.