Court declines polar bear en banc rehearing

The United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has declined a request for an en banc rehearing of an appeal case challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s designation of critical habitat for the polar bear. In February a panel of three 9th Circuit judges supported the Fish and Wildlife position by overturning a federal District Court in Alaska order, rejecting the habitat designation as too broad. Following the 9th Circuit decision the appellees in the case requested an en banc hearing, a procedure that would have involved all of the 9th Circuit judges reconsidering the case, rather than have the case decided by a three-judge panel.

In a brief court order issued on June 8 the panel of three 9th Circuit judges involved in the case said that the full court had been advised of the rehearing petition and that no judge had requested a vote on whether to conduct an en banc rehearing.

“Appellees’ petition for rehearing en banc is denied. Further petitions for rehearing and rehearing en banc shall not be entertained,” the judges wrote.

Fish and Wildlife issued the polar bear critical habitat designation in November 2010, following the 2009 listing of the animals as threatened, under the terms of the Endangered Species Act. The designation covered a total area of 187,157 square miles, including a vast offshore area; barrier islands and spits; and polar bear denning habitat along Alaska’s northern coast.

Worried about the possible impact of the habitat designation on economic activity, a number of organizations including the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, the American Petroleum Institute, Arctic Slope Regional Corp., the state of Alaska and the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope appealed the designation in federal court.

- ALAN BAILEY