FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, July 23, 1996
CONTACT:
Mike Markarian, (301) 585-2591, MikeM@fund.org
Kimberley Walley, (202) 588-5206
NEW YORK -- This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the decision of a District Court that threw out a lawsuit aiming to halt Vermont's moose hunt.
After the Vermont Legislature voted in 1993 to continue a century-long prohibition on moose hunting, the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife (VDFW) thumbed its nose at the Legislature and held its first-ever moose hunting season anyway, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) agreeing to foot 75 percent of the bill. The Fund for Animals' lawsuit charged that the USFWS violated the National Environmental Policy Act by approving funding for the moose hunt without first conducting the necessary environmental analysis and/or environmental impact statement. The USFWS realized it had made an error, and asked the VDFW to return those funds spent on hunting licenses and permits. The U.S. District Court in Burlington, Vermont then dismissed the case as moot since that money had already been returned.
The Court of Appeals, however, ruled that "The federal government did not discontinue funding on all portions of the Moose Investigation Project" and "the government's limiting action did not moot plaintiffs' case." The opinion, written by Circuit Judge Parker, further noted that "the continued federal funding of recommendations for harvest regulation' affecting moose densities' reflects an unambiguous involvement by the federal government in the design, magnitude, and conduct of a moose hunt" and that "the exclusion would likely be overridden by the highly controversial environmental effects' of the financed activity, which is, after all, moose hunting."
"The federal government has stopped the funding of hunting permit activities, but continues to fund activities directly related to the moose hunt, such as gathering public information, preparing moose hunt regulations, recommending the number of moose to be killed, and mandatory hunter training workshops," says Kimberley Walley, attorney for The Fund for Animals. "If Vermont's moose hunt is held in 1996, this hunt will still be illegal under federal law."
In 1993, the VDFW offered 30 moose hunting permits; in 1994, 40 permits; in 1995, 75 permits; and in 1996, plans to offer 100 permits. Says Mike Markarian, director of campaigns for The Fund for Animals, "It is highly ironic that Vermont is killing more and more moose in a Moose Investigations Project designed to learn more about the moose population. If they believe the only way to count the moose is to kill the moose, we certainly hope these Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife officials are never appointed to the U.S. Census Bureau."
For a copy of the Court's 17-page opinion please call The Fund for Animals at (301) 585-2591 or click here.