Projecting The Future: Court Upholds Listing For Bearded Seals

Elizabeth A. "Betsy" Lake is a Partner in out San Francisco office and Rafe Petersen is a Partner in our Washington, D.C. office.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held for the first time that a species may be listed under the Endangered Species Act based on projections about what could happen nearly 80 years from now in terms of habitat loss and species response.
• The court found it reasonable to conclude that due to climate change projections of ice loss, populations of bearded seals will become endangered by the year 2095.
• The opinion is noteworthy because it allowed the extension of the "foreseeable future" timeframe almost 50 years beyond any prior listing decision and reconfirmed that reliance on climate change models, even if uncertain, may constitute "best available science."