Yellowstone Grizzly Legal Status Litigation Escalates

http://billingsgazette.com/news/opinion/guest/article_70add892-7f08-11de-a5eb-001cc4c03286.html

Yellowstone bear lawsuits going to federal court
StoryDiscussionBy DAVID KNIBB | Posted: Sunday, August 2, 2009 12:00 am

Now that mediation has failed, the government's decision to take Yellowstone's grizzly bears off the list of threatened species will be decided in federal court.

Two cases are pending in Boise and one in Missoula challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision of 2006 to delist Yellowstone's grizzlies. Judge Malloy in Missoula and Magistrate Judge Lynch in Boise jointly recommended that the parties in all three cases enter mediation to see if they could resolve their differences without litigation.

Mediation has gained favor as a technique to settle lawsuits. Disinterested lawyers or retired judges serve as mediators in a form of shuttle diplomacy as they probe each side, looking for ways to close the gaps in their positions.......

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

Quote
Frank Furter
http://billingsgazette.com/news/opinion/guest/article_70add892-7f08-11de-a5eb-001cc4c03286.html

Yellowstone bear lawsuits going to federal court
StoryDiscussionBy DAVID KNIBB | Posted: Sunday, August 2, 2009 12:00 am

Now that mediation has failed, the government's decision to take Yellowstone's grizzly bears off the list of threatened species will be decided in federal court.

Two cases are pending in Boise and one in Missoula challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision of 2006 to delist Yellowstone's grizzlies. Judge Malloy in Missoula and Magistrate Judge Lynch in Boise jointly recommended that the parties in all three cases enter mediation to see if they could resolve their differences without litigation.

Mediation has gained favor as a technique to settle lawsuits. Disinterested lawyers or retired judges serve as mediators in a form of shuttle diplomacy as they probe each side, looking for ways to close the gaps in their positions.......

In general, I agree with this approach. For something as critically important as grizzly bears, I certainly want it to be publicly vetted.