ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20048
No(s). 21-35030 (9th Cir. Apr 18, 2022)

The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for FWS in a challenge to its 2016 Kenai Rule, which banned baiting of brown bears in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and hunting of coyotes, lynx, and wolves in a specific wildlife recreation area. The state of Alaska and a hunting group argued the rule violated the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act, and NEPA because the state, not the federal government, had ultimate regulatory authority over hunting on federal lands in Alaska. The district court disagreed, and granted summary judgment for FWS. The appellate court found that ANILCA preserved the federal government's plenary power over public lands in Alaska, that ANILCA authorized FWS to enact regulations preempting state-approved hunting in the refuge and prevailed over the Improvement Act in this instance, and that the Service sensibly decided to apply a categorical exclusion rather than prepare an EA or EIS. It affirmed summary judgment for the Service.