Humane Society of the United States v. Kempthorne

The D.C. Circuit vacated a judgment entered by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia enjoining the Fish and Wildlife Service "from authorizing the lethal take of any more gray wolves for depredation control purposes." While an appeal of the injunction was pending, the U.S. Department of the Interior removed the relevant gray wolf population from the endangered species list. Parties to the litigation agreed that the delisting mooted the appeal, but the appellees opposed vacatur.

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Argued March 17, 2008

Before: HENDERSON, Circuit Judge, and EDWARDS and WILLIAMS, Senior Circuit Judges.

Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior (Secretary), the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) of the Department of the Interior (Interior) and H. Dale Hall, Director of the FWS (collectively federal appellants), together with the Safari Club International and Safari Club International Foundation (collectively Safari Club), appeal the district court judgment enjoining the FWS “from authorizing the lethal take of any more gray wolves for depredation control purposes” by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (Wisconsin DNR). Humane Soc’y of the United States v. Kempthorne, CV06-1279, slip op. at 34 (Aug. 9, 2006); id. Order (Sept. 6, 2006). The Humane Society of the United States (Humane Society) and other environmental organizations*fn1 had sought the injunction because, in their view, the gray wolf, as an endangered species, could not be the object of a lethal depredation control program under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq. The district court agreed. While the appeal was pending, Interior removed the gray wolf population located in the Western Great Lakes Region (which includes Wisconsin) from the endangered species list. See Final Rule Designating the Western Great Lakes Populations of Gray Wolves as a Distinct Population Segment; Removing the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment of the Gray Wolf From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, 72 Fed. Reg. 6052 (Feb. 8, 2007). The parties agree that the delisting moots the appeal. The federal appellants and the Safari Club have moved to vacate the district court judgment and the Humane Society opposes vacatur. For the reasons set forth below, we grant the appellants’ motion and vacate the district court judgment.

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