By Mark Moran - Producer-Editor, Contact - News
Big Sky Connection - A federal judge says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has to think again about offering the Arctic grayling protection under the Endangered Species Act. It's been a decades-long battle by environmental advocates to list this fish species. Fish and Wildlife says it isn't warranted. Comments from Patrick Kelly, Montana, and Washington director, Western Watersheds project.
Click on the image above for the audio. A lawsuit prompting a decision in federal court ordering a re-evaluation of the status of the Arctic grayling was brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, Western Watersheds Project, and Butte resident Pat Munday, with representation by Earthjustice. (Adobe Stock)
Mark Moran
August 12, 2024 - A federal district court judge in Missoula has ruled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must reconsider whether to list Montana's Arctic grayling population under the Endangered Species Act.
The agency argued the listing is not warranted. The court's action was in response to a lawsuit brought by a coalition of advocacy groups.
There are six grayling fish species in the Northern Hemisphere, but the colorful Arctic grayling is the only one found in North America and is already extinct in Michigan.
Patrick Kelly, Montana and Washington director for the Western Watersheds Project, part of the coalition suing the agency, said the grayling faces an uphill environmental battle.
"The elephant in the room here with a fish that is very dependent on cold water is climate change, and heat waves and drought, and everything associated with this human-caused phenomenon," Kelly explained.
The court order said the Fish and Wildlife Service has a year to make a new determination on the Arctic grayling. The battle over the fish began in 1991, but the agency contended based on its best science, the fish should not be added to the Endangered Species List.
Kelly pointed out the grayling have continued to face population decline and habitat degradation as the climate changes. He noted the West has faced some of the hottest weather on record and there have been huge stream closures on key rivers where grayling live.
"They're struggling and they have been for a long time," Kelly emphasized. "That's why this is such an important decision, because it's yet another chance, hopefully, for the agency to do the right thing and list this fish, so it can be protected and recovered under the Endangered Species Act."
Protection would require a federal recovery plan to address chronic low water flows in Montana's iconic Big Hole River, among other steps.
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