The Center for Biological Diversity, the Federation of Fly Fishers and the Western Watersheds Project have filed a lawsuit in Helena’s Federal Court today seeking to reverse the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s refusal to declare the fluvial arctic grayling endangered.  The plaintiffs will seek to prove that “it was not scientific findings but a manipulative administrator that led the service to deny the fish protection under the Endangered Species Act early this year”.  The administrator allegedly involved is former Interior Department’s assistant secretary Julie MacDonald, whom the groups claimed pressured the decision against endangered status despite available findings.  Articles we’ve read today don’t specify what findings, and of course the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s representatives in the Denver regional office have released statements denying the allegation - an assistant regional director at the service’s Denver office said he was able to state “point blank” Thursday that the claim is unfounded.

We’re sad to see the Federation of Fly Fishers engaging in this type of behavior - we’ve had some professional experience in the legal arena over the past five lustrums, and find it to be a terminally slow and inordinately expensive morass.  Surveys have suggested in the past that protracted legal battles over endangered species against regulatory agencies have not engendered increased support from the general public, and in fact have had the opposite effect. That would be a disaster in the case of the struggling grayling. 

We’d very much like to see the Federation of Fly Fishers concentrate on what they do very well, educating new and experienced fly fishermen, improving skills, and engendering a love for the sport.  An Amicus Curiae - a friend of the court brief - would have been a much better choice in our humble opinion - we need to project the very most positive profile of fly fishing in the community at large, emphasizing our interest in contributing to the communities and states that surround and host our rivers, and working to be good stewards of resources - that includes fish and federal dollars - federal dollars that will now be spent by the hundreds of thousands defending against this action.  

Ever increasing federal spending to address Endangered Species Act lawsuits has been a noted “challenge” for years, as evidenced by this quote from the 15 September 2003 Legal Briefs newsletter -

Rather, it (ESA lawsuits) is an epidemic that not only compromises human needs but, ironically, compromises the protection of endangered species….ESA lawsuits are so routine that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff spend more time and dollars handling litigation than saving endangered species. The FWS reports that as much as two-thirds of its budget for placing endangered species on the protection list is consumed fulfilling court orders and settlement agreements.

We overwhelmingly support enhanced stewardship of the precious grayling, no questions asked.  Again in our humble opinion actions such as this federal suit are not the best avenue, and will adversely impact the position the Federation of Fly Fishers has worked so hard to attain over the past several decades.  

For the Federation’s sake, for the sport’s sake, and most importantly for the grayling’s sake - hopefully a more timely solution can be found - dollars started flowing the wrong way today.

Technorati Tags:

Tags: Best Fly Fishing Yellowstone: Random Team Ramblings