Free Declaration in Support - District Court of California - California

Case 4:08-cv-01339-CW

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Filed 07/24/2008

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Andrew M. Hawley (Cal. Bar No. 229274) Brian Segee (Cal. Bar No. 200795) Defenders of Wildlife 1130 Seventeenth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 682-9400 x124 [email protected] [email protected]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA OAKLAND DIVISION ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, et al., Plaintiffs, v. DIRK KEMPTHORNE, et al., Defendants.

CASE NO.: C-08-1339-CW

DECLARATION OF JAMIE RAPPAPORT CLARK IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE'S MOTION FOR INTERVENTION

I, Jamie Rappaport Clark, hereby declare as follows: 1. I am the Executive Vice President of Defenders of Wildlife ("Defenders"). I

have held this position--and been a member of Defenders--since February 2004. I hold a B.S. in wildlife biology from Towson State University in Towson, Maryland, and a M.S. in wildlife ecology from the University of Maryland. In 1997, I was appointed as Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service ("FWS"), a position I held until 2001. Prior to my

appointment as Director of the FWS, I served the agency as assistant director for ecological services, chief of the division of endangered species, southwest deputy assistant regional

Declaration of Jamie Rappaport in Support of Motion to Intervene Case No. C-08-1339-CW

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director, and senior staff biologist. As Director, I was directly responsible for all aspects of FWS's operations, including its endangered species program, while in my prior positions with the Service I had significant responsibility and extensive experience in managing the endangered species program nationally and in the field. 2. Defenders is a national non-profit charitable organization with its principal place

of business in Washington, D.C., and currently has over one million members and activists across the United States. Defenders is dedicated to the protection of all native wild animals and plants in their natural communities, and focuses its programs in particular on two of the most serious environmental threats to the planet: species extinction and habitat destruction. 3. Conservation of polar bears has long been an organizational priority of

Defenders. Defenders recognizes that the polar bear plays a critical role in Arctic ecosystems, and its loss would threaten a "trophic cascade" similar to those observed when other top predators have been removed from ecosystems. Defenders supports the listing of the polar bear and participated actively in the listing of polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act ("ESA"), providing detailed comments demonstrating that the best available science established that the bear is threatened with extinction in the foreseeable future. Defenders concluded that the present and threatened destruction of polar bear habitat due to climate change and other causes, over-utilization of polar bears, and the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms were all factors that warrant the listing of the polar bear and pressed for the expeditious listing of the polar bear as a threatened species. 4. In addition to Defenders' specific interest in the protection and recovery of the

polar bear, Defenders has a deep organizational interest in the proper functioning of the ESA. Numerous Defenders staff are recognized experts on ESA law, policy, and administration. Defenders staff are frequently asked to testify before Congress on ESA policy and administration and to provide expert technical assistance and drafting support to relevant committee staff. Among other issues, Defenders has recently testified regarding the delay of the polar bear's listing, the Bush administration's implementation of the ESA, and the effects of global warming and climate change on wildlife, including the polar bear. See Endangered
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Species Implementation: Hearing Before the H. Natural Resources Comm., 110th Cong. (May 9, 2007) (Statement of Jamie Rappaport Clark, Executive Vice President); Wildlife, Oceans, and Climate Change: Hearing Before the H. Natural Resources Comm., 110th Cong. (April 17, 2007) (Statement of Chris Haney, Chief Scientist); On Thin Ice: The Future of the Polar Bear: Hearing Before the H. Select Comm. on Energy Independence and Global Warming, 110th Cong. (Jan. 17, 2008) (statement of Jamie Rappaport Clark, Executive Vice President). 5. Defenders' long-standing commitment to the lawful administration of the ESA

extends specifically to the proper functioning of section 4(d) of the ESA. Defenders has demonstrated this commitment through its ongoing conservation, legal and policy work, including commenting on and successfully litigating over the FWS's prior attempts to undermine the conservation mandate embodied in section 4(d) of the ESA. Defenders provided detailed comments on the 4(d) Rule adopted by the FWS for the polar bear, explaining that the rule fails to provide properly for the conservation of the species and arbitrarily withholds from the polar bear important protections afforded by the ESA's prohibition against take of protected species. As a result, Defenders urged the FWS to rescind its illegal rule, and to promulgate in its place a rule that adopts appropriate measures to ensure the survival and recovery of the polar bear. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Dated this 24th day of July, 2008

/s/ Jamie Rappaport Clark Jamie Rappaport Clark

I, Andrew M. Hawley, pursuant to ECF General Order 45X.B, attest that Jamie Rappaport Clark has concurred in and authorized the filing of this declaration with this court.

/s/ Andrew M. Hawley Andrew M. Hawley Attorney for Plaintiff-intervenor
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