In re: Polar Bear Endangered Species Act and 4(D) Rule Litigation, Misc 08-764 (D.D.C)
Case Summary:
We represent a coalition of groups that have intervened in lawsuits by hunting groups seeking to force the United States to allow hunters to import polar bear body parts into this country even though the species was recently listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. When the polar bear was listed it also became a "depleted" species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. As a consequence, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can no longer issue import permits allowing polar bear "trophies" to come into the U.S., as it had been doing prior to the listing. The hunting groups are challenging that import ban, and we represent groups defending the ban.
We also represent the same groups in defending a separate lawsuit brought by Conservation Force claiming that sport hunters are entitled to "enhancement" permits under the MMPA to allow the import of sport-hunted polar bears, based on the purported "conservation benefits" of sport-hunting for Canadian polar bear populations.
Intervenors: The Humane Society of the United States, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Greenpeace, Inc.
Court: United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Status:
06/16/08 - HSUS, IFAW, and Defenders of Wildlife move to Intervene
10/17/11 – Court grants summary judgment to Intervenors and the government, upholding the polar bear import-ban and rejecting the argument that sport-hunting can be justified as an "enhancement."