Alaskan Seal Critical Habitat Designations Reinstated on Appeal

A federal wildlife agency lawfully designated critical habitat areas for two Arctic seal species in Alaska despite the state’s arguments that the protected areas are too broad, the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday.

The National Marine Fisheries Service didn’t have to consider other countries’ conservation efforts when deciding to expand the ringed seal’s and bearded seal’s critical habitat into the Bearing and Chukchi Sea, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said.

Writing for the court, Judge M. Margaret Mckeown pointed to the US Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright v. Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overturned a 40-year ...