Sierra Club v. Clark

• Decision Date: 19 February 1985
• Docket Number: Nos. 84-5042,84-5134,s. 84-5042
• Citation: 755 F.2d 608
• Parties: 15 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,391 SIERRA CLUB and Defenders of Wildlife, et al., Appellees, v. William P. CLARK, as Secretary of the Interior and the Department of the Interior, et al., Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 608

755 F.2d 608

15 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,391

SIERRA CLUB and Defenders of Wildlife, et al., Appellees, v. William P. CLARK, as Secretary of the Interior and the

Department of the Interior, et al., Appellants.

Nos. 84-5042, 84-5134.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Oct. 10, 1984.

Decided Feb. 19, 1985.

Dianne H. Kelly, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for appellants.

Philip Olfelt, Asst. Atty. Gen., St. Paul, Minn., for amicus curiae.

Brian B. O'Neill, Amy B. Bromberg, Minneapolis, Minn., for appellees.

Before ROSS, McMILLIAN and JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judges.

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

The chief issue before us is whether the Secretary of the Interior is authorized by the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 U.S.C. Secs. 1531-1543 (1982), to issue regulations permitting the sport trapping of the Eastern Timber Wolf. Also in question are the legality of certain additional regulations expanding the predation control program of the wolf in northern Minnesota and the propriety of attorneys' fees awarded the Sierra Club. The district court ¹ concluded that public hunting of a threatened species such as the Eastern Timber Wolf is prohibited by the Act except in the extraordinary case where population pressures within the animal's ecosystem cannot otherwise be relieved. As the government had made no such showing, a motion for summary judgment that the sport trapping regulations violate the Endangered Species Act was granted. The district court also concluded that the additional regulations expanding the predation control program of the wolf were illegal, as they were made without explanation. It awarded the Sierra Club $55,369.45 under the attorney fee provision of the Endangered Species Act. We affirm the judgment of the district court as to the sport trapping of the wolf, reverse and remand as to the predation control regulations, and affirm the attorneys' fee award.

The case was submitted by stipulation, so the facts are not in controversy. There are approximately 1,000 to 1,200 Eastern Timber Wolves, commonly called gray wolves, in northern Minnesota. This population has remained stable since 1976, despite illegal kills estimated at as much as 25% of the population. There is no information that indicates that the wolf population has exceeded its carrying capacity or that population pressures exist that cannot be relieved other than by a sport season.

Minnesota's gray wolf population was originally listed as "endangered" under the Act. ² However, after the Eastern Timber Wolf Recovery Team, a body of experts created pursuant to the Act and charged with the development of plans for the conservation and survival of the gray wolf, recommended that "depredation control" be used where wolves were killing domestic animals, in 1978 the Fish and Wildlife Service reclassified the gray wolf as "threatened" ³ in Minnesota and allowed trapping of depredating wolves. The implementing regulations were litigated in Fund for Animals v. Andrus, 11 Env't.Rep.Cas. (BNA) 2189 (D.Minn.1978). The district court enjoined the Fish and Wildlife Service from trapping wolves unless such action was necessary and was directed to the removal of specific wolves reasonably believed to have committed significant depredation upon livestock. Id. at 2200-01. The court later amended its order to restrict trapping to within one-quarter mile of the place where the predation occurred. Id. at 2203.

Several times following the litigation in Fund for Animals, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) requested that the Fish and Wildlife Service transfer control of the wolf to it and allow a public sport season. These requests were rejected both because of the failure of the requests to conform to the order in Fund for Animals, and because of the Service's position that the Endangered Species Act prohibits public sport trapping of threatened species unless there exists an extraordinary case where population pressures within a given ecosystem cannot be otherwise relieved.

In July 1982, however, the Service published proposed regulations granting the DNR's request for public sport trapping of the wolf. Comments were accepted, and public hearings were held in August 1982. On August 10, 1983, regulations were promulgated allowing public trapping of wolves with certain restrictions. ⁴ The regulations also modify the existing livestock predation control program: wolves may be taken within one-half mile of the farm where predation occurred; taking is not limited to individual predator wolves; there is no express requirement that wolves be taken in a humane manner. ⁵

Shortly after the publication of the new regulations, the Sierra Club, along with numerous other organizations, filed this action. The case was submitted by both parties on motions for summary judgment. On January 5, 1984, the district court entered an order in which it concluded that the regulations were illegal. The court stated:

The plain language of the Act requires that before the taking of a threatened animal can occur, a determination must be made that population pressures within the animal's ecosystem cannot otherwise be relieved. In the present case, the government does not even attempt to argue that such an "extraordinary case" exists. Rather, the novel argument is asserted that the declaration of a sport season is within the Secretary's discretion.

Sierra Club v. Clark, 577 F.Supp. 783, 787 (D.Minn.1984).

The court, however, found the notion of such discretion inconsistent with the Secretary's express statutory duties:

In the case of a threatened species such as the wolf, the Secretary may permit a limited taking, but only in the extraordinary case where population pressures within the wolf's ecosystem cannot otherwise be relieved. This language means that there must be strong evidence that the wolf is exceeding the population limits of its ecosystem before the Secretary can permit any taking of the animal. The Secretary has not so much as whispered that this may be the case. Upon review of the record, the court finds the reason for the Secretary's position to be obvious. The wolf population has indeed been stable since 1975; there is no evidence to indicate that the wolf population has exceeded its limits. It is therefore clear that the Secretary has breached his statutory duty to conserve the wolf, within the meaning of the Endangered Species Act, by declaring that a sport season on the wolf will be allowed.

Id. at 789-90.

The court also concluded that the changes in the livestock predation control program were made without explanation. It determined that they were not designed in accordance with Fund for Animals and could only expand the unnecessary taking of wolves. Therefore, these regulations also were determined to be illegal under the Endangered Species Act. Finally, in a related action, the court awarded the Sierra Club $55,369.45 under the attorneys' fee provision of the Endangered Species Act.

I.

The Secretary argues that in denying him discretion to allow public sport trapping of the wolf the district court has destroyed the distinction made in the Act between endangered and threatened species. ⁶ The Secretary claims that while Congress imposed in 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1538(a)(1) a set of mandatory prohibitions regarding endangered species, including the taking of such species, it sought to protect threatened species by providing that "the Secretary shall issue such regulations as he deems necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of such species," further clarifying and particularizing the directive by providing that "the Secretary may by regulation prohibit * * * any act prohibited under section 1538(a)(1)." 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1533(d). Thus, argues the Secretary, Congress granted him discretion to determine whether to impose section 1538(a)(1) prohibitions, including the prohibition on taking, for a threatened species.

The extent of the Secretary's discretion, however, is limited by the requirement that the regulations he is to issue must provide The terms "conserve", "conserving", and "conservation" mean to use and the use of all methods and procedures which are necessary to bring any endangered species or threatened species to the point at which the measures provided pursuant to this chapter are no longer necessary. Such methods and procedures include, but are not limited to, all activities associated with scientific resources management such as research, census, law enforcement, habitat acquisition and maintenance, propagation, live trapping, and transplantation, and, in the extraordinary case where population pressures within a given ecosystem cannot be otherwise relieved, may include regulated taking. (Emphasis added.)

for the conservation of threatened species. The term is defined in 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1532(3):

In interpreting these provisions, our starting point must be the plain language of the statute. Kosak v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 1519, 1523, 79 L.Ed.2d 860 (1984); United States v. Weber Aircraft Corp., --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 1488, 1492, 79 L.Ed.2d 814 (1984). Further, we bear in mind that statutory definitions of words used elsewhere in the same statute furnish such authoritative evidence of legislative intent and meaning that they are usually given controlling effect. See Walling v. Portland Terminal Co., 330 U.S. 148, 67 S.Ct. 639, 91 L.Ed. 809 (1947). "Such internal legislative construction is of the highest value and prevails over * * * other extrinsic aids." 1A C. Sands, Statutes and Statutory Construction Sec. 27.02, at 310 (4th ed. 1972). Here the plain language of the statute, including its definitional provisions, compels us to agree with the district court "that before the taking of a threatened animal can occur, a determination must be made that population pressures within the animal's ecosystem cannot otherwise be relieved." 577 F.Supp. at 787. Otherwise, such...