9/18/1997 238

JUDGE RETAINS JURISDICTION OVER QUEEN CHARLOTTE GOSHAWK E.S.A. CASE

Upon being told that environmentalists would challenge a decision by theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service not to list the Queen Charlotte goshawk as anendangered species, U.S. Federal Judge Stanley Sporkin agreed to retain jurisdiction over the case, which means the challenge will go before his court. In 1996, Sporkin overturned a previous denial of listing, ordering the Service to issue a new decision based only on scientific information. His latest ruling was issued during oral hearings on September9, 1997.

In 1994, the Southwest Center and others petitioned to list the QueenCharlotte goshawk as an endangered species throughout its range in Southeast Alaska, coastal British Columbia and the Olympic Peninsula. The goshawk is an old growth rainforest obligate with a very large home range that threatens industrial logging on the Tongass National Forest and British Columbia.