The Department of the Interior defeated a lawsuit claiming it unlawfully rejected an environmental group’s proposal to restore grizzly bear populations, after a divided Ninth Circuit found Thursday that the rejection wasn’t subject to court review.
Interior has a recovery plan for grizzly bears under the Endangered Species Act. The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned to amend the plan, proposing recovery areas in Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Utah that it contended could support grizzly populations. The department denied the petition.
The US District Court for the District Court of Montana agreed with the department that the plan wasn’t a ...