Sportsmen’s Alliance Moves for Summary Judgment in Northern Rockies Wolf Litigation

GW:  Follow the science until you don’t like it

SAF Asks Court to Send Animal Extremists Packing with Baseless Lawsuit in Tow

On Friday, March 7, the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, along with Safari Club International and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, filed for summary judgment in a trio of lawsuits brought by animal-extremist groups to relist wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountain region under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We’ve asked the court to issue a judgment in our favor due to the animal extremists’ lack of standing and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) proper denial of the extremists’ attempts to relist gray wolves in the Northern Rockies.

In February 2024, FWS denied two petitions to relist wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountain (NRM) region – Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, the eastern third of Washington and Oregon, and a small portion of northern Utah. The petitions alternatively requested that the delisted NRM wolves be incorporated into a “western states population,” comprised of every state to the north and west of, and including, Colorado, and relist them under the ESA. The Center for Biological Diversity, Humane Society of the United States, Western Watershed Project, the Sierra Club, and Animal Wellness Action then filed a trio of lawsuits challenging the denial.

“The animal-extremist groups are following their typical litigation script to a T,” said Michael Jean, Litigation Counsel for the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation. “Their petitions were correctly denied by the Fish and Wildlife Service, and they’ve now brought feeble lawsuits to waste government time and taxpayer money. We’re happy to provide an additional layer of defense against these pointless attacks on science-based wildlife management and sportsmen.”

The Sportsmen’s Alliance and our conservation partners successfully intervened in the lawsuits to defend the petitions’ denials by FWS. The record clearly shows that the service followed the best available science, as required by the ESA and requested by petitioners, in denying the petitions. The service rightfully concluded that gray wolves in the NRM are not a distinct population segment that could be listed under the ESA and that wolves in the broader Western United States, while qualifying as a distinct population, do not warrant listing under the ESA. FWS very clearly considered the best available science – much of which is conveniently ignored in the animal extremists’ complaints and motions – to support the denials. As noted by FWS, “now and into the foreseeable future, wolves are likely to retain a healthy level of abundance” throughout the Western United States.

“The service’s denial of the petitions was robust, well-informed, and appropriate,” said Torin Miller, Associate Litigation Counsel for the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation. “Wolves in the Northern Rockies – and throughout the west – have achieved recovery goals laid out under their initial listing under the ESA. It’s well-past time we stop moving the recovery goal post, and we’re confident the court will agree by entering judgment for our cross-motion for summary judgment.”

Maryland Alert: Lead Ammunition Ban Bills

Contact Your Senator and Delegate Today and Urge Them to Oppose These Bans!

This session, the Maryland General Assembly is considering two bills that will ban the use of traditional lead ammunition for hunting throughout the state.

Senate Bill 634 and House Bill 741 will phase out the use of traditional lead ammunition for hunting by 2029. These bills use a species-based phase-out scheme that does not consider the current and future availability of lead alternatives. In fact, the bills are being pushed by anti-hunting groups that want to ban hunting all together.

Currently, both these bills are sitting in their respective committees awaiting committee votes. The deadline to report these bills favorably is quickly approaching as the bill crossover date is March 17. This is the day each chamber sends to the other chamber those bills it intends to pass favorably.

Please take action by contacting your senator and delegate. Respectfully ask them to oppose these bans. Instead of a ban, ask them to support voluntary measures that encourage hunters to try some of the new, non-lead products available on the market. The ultimate decision should be left up to hunters themselves and not mandated by the state. You can find your legislator by clicking here.

Sportsmen’s Alliance Objects to Recommended Denial of Preliminary Injunction in Puppy Ban Case

On February 25, the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation filed an objection to a magistrate judge’s recommendation to deny SAF’s request for preliminary injunction in our lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) unlawful puppy ban. A district judge will now take a fresh look at SAF’s arguments that the CDC’s Dog Rule should be halted until the full legal process can play out.

“While we’re disappointed with the magistrate judge’s recommendation to deny our motion for preliminary injunction, we still feel strongly that the recommendation, and CDC’s defenses, miss the mark,” said Michael Jean, Litigation Counsel for the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation. “We’re hopeful the district judge will agree.”

Oral arguments on the preliminary injunction were delivered before a magistrate judge in December 2024. The magistrate judge delivered a report and recommendation to deny the preliminary injunction in early February 2025. That recommendation is passed along to the presiding district judge for a final decision. However, because SAF objected to the recommendation, the district judge will now review the request for preliminary injunction outside of the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation.

SAF’s legal arguments remain sound. CDC exceeded its authority in promulgating the Dog Rule, and precedent from multiple courts, including the Supreme Court, concludes just as much. Additionally, just days before oral arguments, CDC announced a forthcoming notice of proposed rulemaking to potentially change the dog import rule. The notice indicates that CDC is second-guessing its own rule and may propose revisions to the requirements for the importation of dogs. Still, CDC continues to defend its unlawful rulemaking.

“We remain confident that our multiple pleadings not only show that CDC’s Dog Rule is unlawful, but that a preliminary injunction is necessary and proper to stop the harm our members are experiencing as a result,” said Torin Miller, Associate Litigation counsel for the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation. “We’re asking the district judge to see through the government’s smoke and mirrors and see the rule for what it is – an egregious usurpation of authority.”
Read more

Center for Biological Diversity, Others, Hiring Attorneys to Challenge Government Actions

Animal extremist groups have recently announced their decisions to hire additional attorneys to challenge predicted federal government regulations and actions regarding energy, the environment and endangered species. The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and Earthjustice, two groups who appear opposite of the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation on many lawsuits, are hiring six and eight additional attorneys.

“While the specifics of their lawsuits are still unclear, one thing is certain: these animal extremists are committed to dismantling sportsmen’s rights in our country, and they have the funding to pursue as much,” said Dr. Todd Adkins, Senior Vice President at the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “Years and years of sue-and-settle schemes have lined the coffers of ideologues, and they have no shame in utilizing those funds to pursue silly, superfluous lawsuits without legal or scientific backing.”

The new presidential administration has brought a wave of new administrative actions – many of which have created anxiety and ideological roadblocks for animal extremists. But these organizations are no strangers to suing the federal government. CBD sued the previous Trump administration more than 280 times, while Earthjustice took the administration to court over 200 times. These numbers are staggering – especially when you consider the lunacy of many of their arguments – but not surprising.

CBD has over 70 in-house attorneys, and Earthjustice employs at least 200. Our most common animal extremist foes collectively employ over 350 in-house lawyers. When you consider SAF’s Office of Litigation Counsel, combined with our closest in-house litigation partners, hunters, anglers and trappers are outnumbered 70:1 with respect to legal representation.

This number highlights the importance of the work the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is doing. Very few conservation organizations are willing to go to court to defend sportsmen. Not only do we seek out opportunities to uphold our rights in court, but we do it with an in-house team.

“We’ve been litigating against CBD, Earthjustice and other animal extremists for years, and their tactics have changed very little,” said Michael Jean, Litigation Counsel at the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation. “But they’re willing to spend exorbitant amounts of money to pursue their ideologies. Fortunately, we’ve been very effective and efficient at defending against these attacks.”

We each must make a commitment to ourselves and future generations to stand up and fight, protect and defend against the rising tide of animal extremism. They work tirelessly to crater our rights, values and heritage, and we must work harder to ensure they are secure todaytomorrow and in the future.

Join us today in the fight to protect sportsmen’s rights or donate to the Sportsmen’s Legal Defense Fund.

Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation to Present Oral Arguments in CDC Puppy Ban Case

This Thursday, Dec. 19, the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (SAF) will present oral arguments in support of its request to preliminarily enjoin recent dog-import restrictions imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

SAF sued CDC in August 2024 to rescind a rule restricting the importation of dogs into the United States. Shortly after suing CDC, SAF filed a motion for preliminary injunction. The CDC opposed that motion, and SAF answered with additional arguments and a reaffirmed commitment to holding CDC accountable for its overreach.

The CDC rule illegally restricts the import of puppies from countries that have been determined to be free of dog rabies or those that are at low risk of introducing dog rabies. Specifically, the rule requires a puppy to be at least six months of age and microchipped to enter (or reenter) the United States.

If granted, the preliminary injunction would pause implementation of the rule’s restrictions on puppy imports and reentries from rabies-free or low-risk countries until the court makes a final decision on the lawfulness of the rulemaking. A preliminary injunction is just the first, but necessary, step in protecting the interests of our members. Hunters and sporting dog owners are harmed by the rule’s restrictions – our members are having hunts, trials and plans for welcoming new puppies into their families interrupted or stopped altogether because of the CDC’s overreach. Read more

Environmentalists Dismiss Lawsuit to Ban Lead Ammo on West Virginia Refuge

Last week, after a year and a half of stalled litigation seeking to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to ban lead ammo in the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, the plaintiffs stipulated a dismissal of their lawsuit.

Every year, FWS opens new and modifies pre-existing hunting and fishing opportunities through “station-specific” refuge regulations. The 2022-23 proposed rule announced that the Service would be phasing out lead ammunition on the Canaan Valley Refuge. However, after going through the notice and comment period, FWS decided not to phase out lead ammo on the refuge.

A group of environmental plaintiffs, led by The National Wildlife Refuge Association and the Sierra Club filed suit in July 2023, seeking to force FWS to go forward with the ban on lead ammunition. The Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, along with Safari Club International and the National Rifle Association, intervened in the case to defend the decision.

“The suit was baseless from the start,” said Michael Jean, Litigation Counsel for Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation. “You cannot use the courts to force agencies to make rules, unless Congress has specifically required the agency to make the rule, and there is no such mandate from Congress in the 1997 Improvement Act, or any other law.” Read more

The Push to Humanize Wildlife

What once was an absurd thought has begun to take hold and is slowly gaining traction, and the societal, and more importantly, legal, acceptance or rejection of this still-absurd idea will impact every endeavor involving an animal – from hunting and ranching to fashion and pet ownership.

That idea: animals are inherently equivalent to humans, and therefore deserve the same civil rights. Think personhood.

The premise has been debated since Pythagoras and Aristotle. The 19th Century saw the rise of early legal arguments in the form of animal-welfare laws. But it wasn’t until the 20th Century, and more pointedly the 1970s, that the modern animal-rights movement began to use today’s legal system in the U.S. and abroad to advance their moral belief that killing an animal is equivalent to killing a human.

For more than four decades, the Sportsmen’s Alliance has fought to protect hunting from this belief system, which would ultimately end our way of life and doom wildlife and conservation in the process.

Ending predator hunting techniques and entire seasons impacts prey species on many levels, from calf and fawn recruitment to habitat use and wintering grounds. Likewise, hunter opportunity is reduced or eliminated for predators and prey species.

The animal-rights movement manipulates state legislatures, state and federal court systems and the ballot box to advance their beliefs and to end hunting, fishing and trapping. But now, more than ever, the animal-rights movement is gaining steam with more and more legal footing and sympathetic mainstream media coverage Read more

CBD & Others Seek to Ban Hunting with Hounds in Arizona

Animal-extremist group Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), along with Mountain Lion Foundation, WildEarth Guardians, Wildlife for All, and others, recently petitioned the Arizona Game and Fish Commission to prohibit the use of hounds for hunting mountain lions, black bears, bobcats, coyotes, and other furbearers and small game in the state. The petition asks for a statewide ban on hound hunting to “recognize principles of fair chase and ethical hunting, protect wildlife… and ensure public safety.”

The Arizona Game and Fish Commission is the rulemaking body of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. The two work hand-in-hand to promulgate hunting and fishing regulations and manage the state’s wildlife resources. Current Arizona regulations allow the use of dogs while hunting mountain lions, bears, rabbits, and other game. The petition asks the commission to amend these regulations to ban the use of dogs as a legal method of take, but it stops short of requesting a ban on the use of dogs for hunting birds.

“CBD and it’s animal-extremist posse are, unsurprisingly, at it again,” said Dr. Todd Adkins, Senior Vice President at the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “They continue to lie, cheat, and steal unabashedly in an effort to force their ideology on the masses. This time, they’re elevating their buffoonery to a new level, but we’re happy to offer a reality check.” Read more

Sportsmen Win 2-1 on Ballot Propositions

While headlines for Tuesday’s general election primarily focused on the presidential, congressional, and gubernatorial races, voters were faced with state ballot proposals that directly impact hunters, anglers, and trappers in Colorado and Florida. We can rejoice in victory in 2 out of 3 of these critical ballot fights.

In Colorado, sportsmen enjoyed a major win and a disappointing loss. For a major victory against animal extremist groups, Proposition 127 failed by over 10 points in Tuesday’s election! Prop. 127 would have banned hunting and trapping of mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx in the state. The voters directly rejected the emotional and misleading appeals by animal extremist ideologues and sent them packing on their anti-hunting initiative. The strong NO vote was despite millions of dollars being spent by anti-hunting groups to get 127 on the ballot and before the voters.

For the loss, Proposition KK will institute a new 6.5% tax on firearms, firearm parts, and ammunition, presumably to “pay” for the criminal misuse of firearms. This tax is a direct attack on lawful hunters and recreational shooters in the state and many groups, including the Sportsmen’s Alliance, are reviewing potential legal action to challenge the measure as a violation of our fundamental rights.

In Florida voters made it abundantly clear that hunting and fishing are fundamental rights for citizens of the Sunshine State. Florida voters approved Amendment 2, protecting a right to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife, by an astounding 67% yes vote. Read more

CDC Puppy Ban: Date Set for Oral Arguments

On Thursday, Dec. 19, the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (SAF) will present oral arguments in support of its request to enjoin recent dog-import restrictions imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). If granted, the preliminary injunction would essentially pause implementation of the rule’s restrictions until the court issues a final decision on the matter.

SAF sued CDC in August 2024 to rescind a rule restricting the importation of dogs into the United States. Shortly after suing CDC, SAF filed a motion for a preliminary injunction. The CDC opposed that motion, and SAF answered with additional arguments and reaffirmed our commitment to holding CDC accountable for its overreach.

“We’re looking forward to presenting our case,” said Michael Jean, Litigation Counsel at the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation. “We’re confident the court will agree with our briefings that CDC’s restrictions are too broad, unnecessary, and an overreach of the agency’s statutory authority. A preliminary injunction is just the first, but necessary, step in protecting the interests of our members until we can do away with this rule altogether.” Read more

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