Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center v. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service

ORDER VACATING INCIDENTAL TAKE PERMITS, BIOLOGICAL OPINION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT; AND DENYING MOTION FOR INJUNCTION

Having determined that the defendant agencies improperly issued incidental take permits for two threatened species, the Court now considers the appropriate remedy. Vacatur is the standard remedy for unlawful agency decisions. To be sure, the Ninth Circuit does not mandate that district courts mechanically vacate an agency’s action after a finding that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act. Yet courts within this circuit rarely remand without vacatur. Here, the key issue is whether or not this Court should vacate incidental take permits that violate the Endangered Species Act, when vacatur would also result in temporarily putting an end to permits for conservation efforts that benefit the threatened species.

At summary judgment, plaintiffs Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Center for Biological Diversity, and Klamath Forest Alliance (collectively “KS Wild”) alleged that defendants U.S. Fish and Wild *1240 life Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (collectively “the Services”) improperly issued 50-year incidental take permits to…