Northwest Ecosystem Alliance v. United States Fish And Wildlife Service

475 F.3d 1136 NORTHWEST ECOSYSTEM ALLIANCE; Center for Biological Diversity; Tahoma Audubon Society, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE; Dave Allen, Regional director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Steve Williams, Director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Gale Norton, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Defendants-Appellees. No. 04-35860. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted November 15, 2006. Filed February 2, 2007. Brent Plater, Center for Biological Diversity, San Francisco, CA, Stephanie M. Parent, Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center, Portland, Oregon, for the plaintiffs-appellants. M. Alice Thurston, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for the defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon; Owen M. Panner, Senior Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-03-01505-PA. Before GOODWIN, O'SCANNLAIN, and FISHER, Circuit Judges. GOODWIN, Circuit Judge. 1 The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (the "Service") denied a petition to classify western gray squirrels in Washington state as an endangered "distinct population segment" ("DPS") under the Endangered…