Bearded seal listing appeal to high court

Organizations appealing the National Marine Fisheries Service’s listing of the Beringia population of bearded seals as threatened under the terms of the Endangered Species Act have petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States to review the appeal. The Supreme Court has yet to indicate whether it will accept the case.

The request to the Supreme Court follows a decision in October last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to uphold the listing of the seals, a decision that overturned an earlier order by the federal District Court in Alaska that had rejected the listing on the grounds that the listing decision had been arbitrary and capricious. In February the 9th Circuit court turned down a request by the appellees for an en banc hearing of the case, a hearing that would involve all of the 9th Circuit judges.

The listing of the bearded seals has come as one of a number of wildlife listings related to the projected loss of Arctic sea ice as a consequence of global warming. Bearded seals live around the sea ice, which they use for resting, feeding and rearing their young. Worried about the potential impact of the listing on economic activity in the Arctic and questioning the listing of an apparently healthy species based on long-term climate projections, several entities, including the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, the American Petroleum Institute, the state of Alaska, the North Slope Borough and other local government and Alaska Native organizations appealed the decision in District Court.

- ALAN BAILEY