How much critical habitat for jaguars will be eliminated in Southern Arizona remains unclear after a court ruled the U.S. erroneously protected land including the proposed Rosemont Mine site.
Tony Davis How much critical habitat for jaguars will be eliminated remains unclear more than a month after a court decided the U.S. government erroneously designated land including the proposed Rosemont Mine site as legally protected habitat.
In 2014, the wildlife service formally designated jaguar critical habitat, but the same year it determined the mine would not illegally destroy critical habitat. Hudbay says impact is limitedAt issue is the future of two major areas of jaguar critical habitat, known as Unit 3 and Subunit 4b. Unit 3 spans about 351,500 acres, and Subunit 4b covers about 12,710 acres.
Hudbay said the court decision limits the area to be removed from critical habitat to only the 50,000 acres that includes the Rosemont site at the north end of Unit 3 of jaguar habitat, and the 12,710 acres of Subunit 4b. He added, “there are too many attorneys in the room” for the center to make a quick decision on how to react to the conflicting interpretations of the 9th Circuit’s ruling.
Failed to prove 'essential' needThe 9th Circuit ruling said repeatedly that the service’s designation of the entire Unit 3 was “arbitrary and capricious,” a phrase courts typically use when they overturn or toss out a federal agency’s action. The ruling was handed down by a three-judge panel. It voted 2-1 to overturn a separate part of Soto's ruling that had upheld the critical habitat designation of all of Unit 3 and Subunit 4b.
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