Judge in Alaska sets aside critical habitat designation for threatened bearded, ringed seals

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A judge in Alaska has set aside a federal agency’s action designating an area the size of Texas as critical habitat for two species of threatened Arctic Alaska seals. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason last week ruled the National Marine Fisheries Service did not explain why the entire 174-million-acre area was “indispensable” to the recovery of the ringed and bearded seal populations. The Anchorage Daily News reports that Gleason sent the matter back to the agency for further work. A spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the agency was reviewing the decision. The ruling comes in a lawsuit brought by the state of Alaska, which claimed the 2022 designation was overly broad.