HELENA — A federal appeals court says U.S. wildlife officials did not consider all environmental factors when it decided against designating a Montana fish as a threatened or endangered species.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday sent a lawsuit seeking federal protections for the Arctic grayling back to a lower court for further consideration.
The panel reversed U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon’s ruling that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision was based on the best available science.
The appellate judges say the federal agency acted arbitrarily and capriciously in dismissing threats of high stream temperatures, low stream flows and climate change.
Center for Biological Diversity Attorney Jenny Harbine says those factors put grayling in Montana in danger of extinction.
The group sued for protections for the grayling.