Our Klamath Basin Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.
Our Klamath Basin
Water Crisis
Upholding rural Americans' rights to grow food,
own property, and caretake our wildlife and natural resources.
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James L. Buchal Court Overturns Denial of Sucker Delisting Petition Thu Sep 4 2003 FEDERAL COURT SAYS U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE ERRED IN REJECTING PETITION TO REMOVE KLAMATH SUCKERS FROM THE ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST On September 4, 2003, Judge Robert E. Jones of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon released an opinion ordering the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to reconsider its denial of a petition filed by several Klamath Basin residents to remove two species of suckerfish from the list of endangered species. Walt Moden, Merle Carpenter, Charles Whitlatch, John Bair, Tiffany Baldock and Dale Cross had filed a petition to remove the fish from the endangered species list on October 19, 2001. The petition was based on the testimony of former FWS biologist David Vogel, who told Congress that year that either "the estimates of the sucker populations in the 1980s were in error and did not, in fact, demonstrate a precipitous decline (i.e., the populations were much larger than assumed)" or "the suckers have demonstrated an enormous boom in the period since the listing and no longer exhibit 'endangered' status". FWS biologists who listed the fish in 1988 reported they were so scarce that virtually none could be found, but by the time competent measurements of the populations were conducted in the 1990s, there were hundreds of thousands of adult suckers in the Basin, a population that probably equaled the carrying capacity of Upper Klamath Lake and other sucker habitat. The FWS nevertheless rejected the petition to delist the suckers, arguing that they still faced risks. Judge Jones found that the FWS’ denial of the petition contained “unexplained conclusions not supported by the administrative record” and ordered the FWS either to reconsider its rejection of the delisting petition, or proceed to a full status review, the next procedural hurdle prior to delisting. James Buchal, attorney for the delisting petitioners, hailed the decision as “a giant step toward cutting the Gordian knot of bogus endangered species listings that hamstrings the Klamath Basin farmers.” Walt Moden, the lead petitioner, said: “Now is the time for the leadership in the Klamath Basin to work to focus the Bush Administration away from junk science and towards delisting these fish.” * * * For more information, contact: James L. Buchal 503-227-1011 Walt Moden 541-883-3781 |
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