Alaska Center for the Environment v. Rue

OPINION

BRYNER, Chief Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

The Alaska Center for the Environment and the Alaska Wildlife Alliance (collectively, “the center”) filed a superior court action challenging a decision by the Commissioner of Fish and Game declining to list the Cook Inlet beluga whale as endangered under the Alaska Endangered Species Act. The commissioner found that Cook Inlet belugas failed to qualify for endangered species listing because they are not currently threatened with extinction, and also because they are not a distinct subspecies within the meaning of the act. The superior court upheld…