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Federal court upholds protection for California’s wild steelhead trout

Posted by: Maven on October 28, 2008 at 6:21 pm

From Media Newswire:

A U.S. District Court judge has rejected an attempt by California irrigators and logging industry groups to strip protected status from five populations of wild steelhead trout. Today’s ruling rejects two separate challenges to steelhead protection in California. In the first case, anti-environment group Pacific Legal Foundation, which represents loggers and water users, argued that the National Marine Fisheries Service must make Endangered Species Act ( ESA ) listing decisions based simply on the numbers of hatchery steelhead produced each year. PLF asked the court to remove five separate populations of steelhead from the list of endangered species based on the presence of hatchery fish. In the second case, a group of Central Valley irrigators argued that ocean-going Central Valley steelhead population should be removed from the endangered species list based on their opinion that freshwater resident rainbow trout might someday replace extinct steelhead populations.

“We need wild steelhead in California’s rivers,” said Steve Mashuda, an attorney with Earthjustice. “Steelhead and people need clean water, swimmable streams, and healthy habitat. We all win when we protect and recover wild steelhead and their habitat,” said Mashuda.

The ruling marks the third time that federal courts on the West Coast have rejected arguments that all fish must be treated the same when making ESA listing decisions.

Read more from Media Newswire by clicking here.

Tom Chandler of the Trout Underground weighs in: “Steelhead huggers (and that includes us) will be pleased to hear a federal judge has kicked a truly ludicrous lawsuit to the curb, refusing to strip protections from five California steelhead populations. Those with a finely tuned sense of irony will find the irrigator’s argument especially amusing…” More from the Trout Underground blog by clicking here.

October 28, 2008 · Filed Under Wildlife & Endangered Species

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