Vanishing Alaskan Sea Otters to get Legal Protection
The Bush administration has proposed listing northern sea otters in southwest Alaska as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Conservation groups filed suit last year to force the move, which federal biologists say is needed to address a dramatic and accelerating decline in the population of the small, furry marine mammal. Federal biologists estimate Alaska's population of northern sea otters has declined some 70 percent since the mid-1980s. “The decision is a welcome change,” says Corrie Bosman, Alaska program director for the Center for Biological Diversity. “It is unfortunate that despite recommendations from agency biologists that an ESA listing is needed to prevent the population from going extinct, it took several years, two administrative petitions, three notice letters and a lawsuit before the Bush administration looked seriously at the need to protect this population,” Bosman said.
Center's Efforts to Protect Alaskan Sea Otters Pay Off
After several years of delay tactics by the Bush Administration, the USFWS finally announced in January a proposed rule to list the Southwest Alaska/Aleutian Islands population of northern sea otter as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The decision comes after the Center for Biological Diversity filed two formal administrative petitions, three notice letters and the finally a lawsuit in December 2003 challenging the agency for failing to take any action to protect the endangered sea otter population.
After the lawsuit forced the service to publish the proposed rule, an agreement was reached with the government to end the lawsuit. If the US Fish and Wildlife Service fails to finalize the rule within 12 months, it will be back in court.
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