Lautenbacher

MEMORANDUM *

Alsea Valley Alliance (“Alsea”) appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the government in Alsea’s challenge to the listing of sixteen distinct population segments (“DPSs”) of West Coast salmon as well as to the modified § 4(d) “take” regulations. The facts are known to the parties and need not be repeated here, except as necessary to explain our decision.

Alsea alleges that the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) violated the Endangered Species Act by “(1) distinguishing between hatchery stocks and ‘natural’ salmon populations in its listing process, (2) promulgating a protective [§ 4(d) ] regulation that distinguishes between hatchery stocks and natural populations, and (3) including salmon populations that do not interbreed in listed population segments.”

For the reasons discussed in our opinion in Trout Unlimited v. Lohn, Nos. 07-35623, 07-35750, filed concurrently with this disposition, the district court’s rulings as to claims (1) and (2) are affirmed.

As to the third claim, Alsea contends that the listed DPSs are overbroad because they include fish that do not interbreed “with regularity.” This claim is based on the Endangered…