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MOUNTAIN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION v. U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
| Issue: |
Whether the federal government may design a vast area of public and private land as critical habitat for the Canada lynx?
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| Plaintiff: |
Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF)
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| Defendant: |
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
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| Court: |
Not applicable
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| Status: |
On February 25, 2009, the FWS's final revised designation of critical habitat was published in the Federal Register. The final rule designates 39,000 square miles in five States—-Maine, Minnesota, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana.
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| Next Event: |
Unknown
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| History: |
In March 2000, after over ten years and many lawsuits, environmental groups forced the FWS to list the lynx as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the contiguous United States. After the listing of the lynx, the groups again sued to compel designation of critical habitat. In January 2004, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the FWS to designate lynx critical habitat by November 1, 2006. On November 9, 2005, the FWS proposed designation of critical habitat in the States of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, and Maine. The proposed critical habitat included more than 18,000 square miles, mostly in Maine, although a vast region in northwestern Montana also was included. In August 2006, the FWS issued documents supporting its proposal. In September 2006, the FWS published a notice for a public comment period that ended October 11, 2006, and MSLF filed comments. In response, the FWS announced in November 2006 that it would designate only 1,841 square miles as critical habitat, all of which is upon federal land. On February 28, 2008, the FWS announced that it had changed its mind and, instead, proposed to designate 42,753 square miles of critical habitat, including thousands of square miles of private land.
On April 9, 2008, MSLF filed comments objecting to the FWS proposal for the designation of critical habitat for the Canada lynx.
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