Safari Club Int'l v. Salazar (In re Polar Bear Endangered Species Act Listing & § 4(d) Rule Litig.), Misc. No. 08–764 (EGS).MDL No. 1993.

• Citation: 818 F.Supp.2d 240
• Decision Date: 17 October 2011
• Docket Number: Misc. No. 08–764 (EGS).MDL No. 1993.
• Parties: In re POLAR BEAR ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT LISTING AND § 4(d) RULE LITIGATION.This Document Relates To:Safari Club Int'l, et al. v. Salazar,1 et al., No. 08–881; Hershey v. Salazar, et al., No. 09–324; Kreider v. Salazar, et al., No. 09–325; Atcheson, et al. v. Salazar, et al., No. 09–941.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

818 F.Supp.2d 240

In re POLAR BEAR ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT LISTING AND § 4(d) RULE LITIGATION.This Document Relates To:Safari Club Int'l, et al.

v.Salazar,1 et al., No. 08–881; Hershey

v.Salazar, et al., No. 09–324; Kreider

v.Salazar, et al., No. 09–325; Atcheson, et al.

v.Salazar, et al., No. 09–941.

Misc. No. 08–764 (EGS).MDL No. 1993.

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Oct. 17, 2011.

Douglas Scott Burdin, Lead Attorney, Anna Margo Seidman, Safari Club International, Washington, DC, for Safari Club International, Safari Club International Foundation, Plaintiffs.

Bradley E. Meyen, Lead Attorney, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Law, Anchorage, AK; Craig D. Galli, Lead Attorney, Holland & Hart LLP, Salt Lake City, UT; M. Reed Hopper, Lead Attorney, Pro Hac Vice, Pacific Legal Foundation, Sacramento, CA; Murray D. Feldman, Lead Attorney, Holland & Hart LLP, Boise, ID, for State of Alaska, Plaintiff.

John C. Martin, Thomas Richard Lundquist, Lead Attorneys, Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, DC; Benjamin Ellison, Patton Boggs, LLP, Washington, DC, for American Petroleum Institute, National Mining Association, National Association of Manufacturers, American Iron and Steel Institute, Plaintiffs.John C. Martin, Thomas Richard Lundquist, Lead Attorneys, Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, DC; Michael B. Wigmore, Lead Attorney, Bingham McCutchen LLP, Washington, DC; Benjamin Ellison, Patton Boggs, LLP, Washington, DC, for Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, Plaintiff.Benjamin Longstreth, Lead Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, DC; Brendan R. Cummings, Lead Attorney, Pro Hac Vice, Kassia R. Siegel, Lead Attorney, Center for Biological Diversity, Joshua Tree, CA; Andrew Elsas Wetzler, Rebecca Riley, Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., Chicago, IL, for Center for Biological Diversity, a non-profit corporation, Plaintiff.Brendan R. Cummings, Lead Attorney, Center for Biological Diversity, Joshua Tree, CA; Benjamin Longstreth, Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, DC, for Greenpeace, Inc., a non-profit corporation, Natural Resources Defense Council, a non-profit corporation, Plaintiffs.Theodore Hadzi-Antich, Lead Attorney, Damien M. Schiff, Pro Hac Vice, M. Reed Hopper, Pro Hac Vice, Pacific Legal Foundation, Sacramento, CA, for Congress of Racial Equality, California Forestry Association, California Cattlemen's Association, Plaintiffs.Jason C. Rylander, Lead Attorney, Defenders of Wildlife, Washington, DC; Howard M. Crystal, Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal, Washington, DC, for Defenders of Wildlife, Plaintiff.John J. Jackson, III, Lead Attorney, Conservation Force, Metairie, LA; Douglas Scott Burdin, Safari Club International, Washington, DC, for Conservation Force, Inuvialuit Game Council, Arviat Hunters and Trappers Organization, Resolute Bay Hunters and Trappers Organization, Louie Nigiyok, doing business as Arctic Hills Tours Company, Nanuk Outfitting, Ltd., Canada North Outfitting, Inc., Americana Expeditions, Inc., Webb Outfitting Nunavut, Ltd., Henik Lake Adventures, Ltd., Joseph Verni, doing business as Natura Sport, Dallas Safari Club, Houston Safari Club, African Safari Club of Florida, Inc., Mark Beeler, Timothy Decker, Chris Hanks, Don Hershey, Steve Hornady, William Keene, Ron Kreider, Allyn Ladd, Ethel Leedy, Everett Madson, Aaron Neilson, Major Roger Oerter, Bradley Pritz, Kevin Reid, Robert Remillard, Jeff Sevor, Steve Smith, Ted Stallings, Larry Steiner, Darwin J. Vander Esch, Tim Walters, Plaintiffs.Douglas Scott Burdin, Safari Club International, Washington, DC; John J. Jackson, III, Conservation Force, Metairie, LA, for Kevin Wieczorek, Dennis Dunn, Keith Atcheson, Keith Halstead, Ben Hamel, Marcus C. Hansen, Plaintiffs.Guillermo A. Montero, Lead Attorney, Department of Justice, Washington, DC; Kristen Byrnes Floom, Lead Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC; Clifford Eugene Stevens, Jr., U.S. Department of Justice, ENRD, Wildlife and Marine Resources, Washington, DC, for Dirk Kempthorne, Defendant.Clifford Eugene Stevens, Jr., Lead Attorney, Clifford Eugene Stevens, Jr., U.S. Department of Justice, ENRD, Wildlife and Marine Resources, Washington, DC; Guillermo A. Montero, Lead Attorney, Department of Justice, Washington, DC; Kristen Byrnes Floom, Meredith L. Flax, Lead Attorneys, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC; Robert Pendleton Williams, Lead Attorney, Hao-Chin Hubert Yang, U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Washington, DC, for H. Dale Hall, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Defendants.Erik Edward Petersen, Lead Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Washington, DC; Guillermo A. Montero, Lead Attorney, Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for Lyle Laverty, Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife Parks, Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary of the United States Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service, Defendants.Erik Edward Petersen, Lead Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Washington, DC; Guillermo A. Montero, Lead Attorney, Department of Justice, Washington, DC; Douglas Scott Burdin, Safari Club International, Washington, DC, for William J. Brennan, Jr., Acting Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, James W. Balsiger, Acting Assistant Administrator of Fisheries for Regulatory Programs, Defendants.Jeffrey M. Feldman, Lead Attorney, Kevin M. Cuddy, Pro Hac Vice, Feldman Orlansky & Sanders, Anchorage, AK; John F. Cooney, Margaret N. Strand, Lead Attorneys, Venable, LLP, Washington, DC, for Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, Defendant.Rachel D. Gray, Roger R. Martella, Jr., Thomas G. Echikson, Lead Attorneys, Sidley Austin LLP, Washington, DC; Thomas Richard Lundquist, Lead Attorney, Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, DC, for National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, Defendant.Clifford Eugene Stevens, Jr., Lead Attorney, Clifford Eugene Stevens, Jr., U.S. Department of Justice, ENRD, Wildlife and Marine Resources, Washington, DC; Kristen Byrnes Floom, Meredith L. Flax, Lead Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC; Robert Pendleton Williams, Lead Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Washington, DC; Hao-Chin Hubert Yang, U.S. Department of Justice, ENRD, Washington, DC, For Ken Salazar, Honorable, Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior, Defendant.Clifford Eugene Stevens, Jr., Lead Attorney, Clifford Eugene Stevens, Jr., U.S. Department of Justice, ENRD, Wildlife and Marine Resources, Washington, DC; Kristen Byrnes Floom, Lead Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC; Meredith L. Flax, Robert Pendleton Williams, Lead Attorneys, U.S. Department of Justice, Environment & Natural Resources Division, Washington, DC; Hao-Chin Hubert Yang, U.S. Department of Justice, ENRD, Washington, DC, for Rowan W. Gould, Defendant.Jeffrey W. Leppo, Lead Attorney, Ryan P. Steen, Stoel Rives LLP, Seattle, WA, for Alaska Oil and Gas Association, Intervenor Defendant.Joseph Michael Klise, Thomas Richard Lundquist, Lead Attorneys, Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, DC, for Edison Electric Institute, Intervenor Defendant.Howard M. Crystal, Lead Attorney, Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal, Washington, DC, for Humane Society of the United States, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Intervenor Defendants.Howard M. Crystal, Lead Attorney, Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal, Washington, DC; Jason C. Rylander, Lead Attorney, Defenders of Wildlife, Washington, DC, for Defenders of Wildlife, Intervenor Defendant.Benjamin Longstreth, Lead Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, DC; Brendan R. Cummings, Lead Attorney, Center for Biological Diversity, Joshua Tree, CA; Rebecca Riley, Lead Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council, Chicago, IL, for Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council, Greenpeace, Inc., Movants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

EMMET G. SULLIVAN, District Judge.

On May 15, 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“the Service” or “the agency”) published its final rule listing the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) because of anticipated impacts to its sea ice habitat from increasing Arctic temperatures, which the agency attributed to global greenhouse gas emissions and related atmospheric changes. See generally Determination of Threatened Status for the Polar Bear ( Ursus maritimus ) Throughout Its Range, 73 Fed.Reg. 28,212 (May 15, 2008) (“Listing Rule”). This Court recently upheld the Listing Rule as a reasonable exercise of agency discretion. See In re Polar Bear Endangered Species Act Listing and § 4(d) Rule Litigation, 794 F.Supp.2d 65 (D.D.C.2011). The four cases currently before the Court arise out of the Service's related determination that, as of the effective date of the Listing Rule, sport-hunted polar bear trophies may no longer be imported into the United States under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (“MMPA”), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1361–1423h, which generally prohibits the import of marine mammal species that the Secretary has designated as “depleted.”

The following plaintiffs have filed actions against the Service asserting violations of the MMPA and the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. §§ 551–559, 701–706:

• Safari Club International and Safari Club International Foundation (collectively, “SCI”);

• Ronald Kreider (“Kreider”);

• Donald Hershey (“Hershey”); ²

• Keith Atcheson, Keith Halstead, Ben Hamel, Marcus Hansen, Aaron Nielson, Kevin Wieczorek, Dennis Dunn, and Conservation Force (collectively, “Atcheson plaintiffs”).Pending before the Court are the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment.

The SCI plaintiffs challenge the Service's legal determination that imports of sport-hunted...