Judge Orders U.S. to Review Yellowstone Cutthroat Status

DENVER, Colorado, December 23, 2004 (ENS) - A federal judge has determined that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service illegally rejected a request by conservation groups to protect the Yellowstone cutthroat trout under the Endangered Species Act.

The federal agency must undertake a 12 month review of the species and then reconsider the petition, according to the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Phillip Figa.

Noah Greenwald, conservation biologist for the Center for Biological Diversity, hailed the decision as a "huge victory."

"The Fish and Wildlife Service turned their back on science and the court rightly turned them around," Greenwald said.

Under the Endangered Species Act, the agency must review a petition for listing within 90 days to determine if there is enough information to merit final consideration.

In 2001 - some three years after the petition was submitted - the federal agency said it lacked "substantial biological information" to warrant further consideration.

In 2003, whirling disease decimated Yellowstone cutthroat trout in Pelican Creek, the principal spawning tributary of Yellowstone Lake that supported as many as 30,000 fish in the 1980s. (Photo courtesy Idaho State University)

Yellowstone cutthroat's range once included portions of southern Montana, northwestern Wyoming, southeastern Idaho, and northern Nevada and Utah.

The species faces a multitude of threats, including non-native trout, habitat degradation, population fragmentation and disease.

A bright yellow, orange, and red fish, the Yellowstone cutthroat trout is generally distinguishable from other inland subspecies cutthroats by the particular pattern of black spots that appears on the fish's body.

Figa ruled the conclusion of the federal agency illogical given the "substantial scientific and commercial information" that indicated protection could be warranted.

The available evidence "credibly indicates that listing of the Yellowstone cutthroat trout as a threatened species is warranted because of loss of habitat," Figa wrote in the opinion.

The Denver judge also ruled that the Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act by inviting comments on the listing petition only from state and federal agencies.

The agency is required to consult "with all parties with relevant information before a determination is made," Figa wrote. "... an implicit assumption of the Endangered Species Act is that going through the right processes helps to ensure the right result."

The judge also rejected the federal agency's bid to justify its decision based on voluntary conservation agreements formed with state governments.

When it announced its decision, the Fish and Wildlife Service cited some 100 federal and state projects directed toward protecting the species and its habitat.

"Conservation happens on the ground, not on paper," said Mike Harris, an attorney with Earthjustice, which represented the coalition in the case. "The Fish and Wildlife Service unlawfully bought into the state's wait and see approach to conservation, which has done nothing to rescue fish, plants, and wildlife from the brink of extinction."

The trout provide an important food source for many other species, including the grizzly. (Photo courtesy National Park Service)

Greenwald said the fate of the Yellowstone cutthroat is intimately linked to the health of the remaining wild lands of the northern rockies.

The fish is a food source for "at least 42 other species ... including the grizzly bear, bald eagle, white pelican, otter, black bear, mink, osprey and loon."

"There is no doubt that this fish plays a key role in contributing to the overall health of the all the wild species in and around Yellowstone and that is why we are working to protect and recover them," Greenwald said.

Judge Orders U.S. to Review Yellowstone Cutthroat Status DENVER, Colorado, December 23, 2004 (ENS) - A federal judge has determined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service illegally rejected a request by conservation groups to protect the Yellowstone cutthroat trout under the Endangered Species Act. The federal agency must undertake a 12-month review of the species and then reconsider the petition, according to the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Phillip Figa. >>more