In case you have not heard, the U.S. economy is slow and federal dollars are scarce. Tax dollars are being very closely watched under public scrutiny. Now, there are less of those tax dollars to watch thanks to the former Fund for Animals, alias Humane Society of the United States.
Back in 2003, the Fund for Animals (this group merged with and is now HSUS) sued the U.S. Department of Interior and its director Steve Williams, plus former director Dale Hall. The charge: that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). These charges targeted the USFWS ruling that permitted hunting on 60 units of the National Wildlife Refuge system, and the lawsuit covered periods ranging from 1998 through 2003. The U. S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation and others intervened in the case on behalf of sportsmen.
At great expense, the USFWS reviewed and update the NEPA status and findings on those 60 refuges. On April 13, 2011, a federal judge ruled that the USFWS new information met the criteria and hunting could continue on the listed NWRs. HSUS lost its lawsuit. Then, however, HSUS filed on July 12, 2011 for “an award of a portion of the attorney’s fees and costs.”
The result: the USFWS must pay the defeated HSUS $116,000.00 dollars. Can you say fleecing or milking the system?
The bottom line: though the HSUS lost and was defeated by the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, the U.S. Department of Interior, and other groups in this 8-year lawsuit and hunting remains open on the refuges, the HSUS gets $116,000 for simply suing.
As you can clearly see and read, lawsuits are profitable for some groups.
