Matt Love, Partner  and Tyson Kade, Of Counsel, in the firm’s Land, Water and Natural Resources practice, represented a group of Alaska Native corporations, municipalities, and a regional tribal government who successfully challenged the listing of the Arctic Ringed Seal as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act in U.S. District Court.   

On Friday, March 11, 2016, U.S. District Judge, Ralph R. Beistline, ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Services acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner by listing the Arctic ringed seal as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act citing a lack of scientific evidence that the seal population faced the threat of extinction before the year 2090.  The victory is significant to the Alaska Native community who depend on ringed seals for subsistence purposes.