Fed court upholds Maine's trapping regulations concerning Canada lynx species

BANGOR — A federal court ruling on Tuesday upheld Maine's trapping regulations by denying a request from two animal welfare organizations for a permanent injunction because they failed to prove Canada lynx as a species is irreparably harmed under the regulations.

The ruling from U.S. District Court Chief Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. came nearly 15 months after the Animal Welfare Institute and the Wildlife Alliance of Maine filed the case against Roland D. Martin, commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

"The department and the Office of the Maine Attorney General are pleased that Chief Judge Woodcock let stand Maine trapping regulations, and rejected claims that trapping is detrimental to the Canada lynx species," department spokeswoman Deborah Turcotte wrote in a report Thursday evening.

"We appreciate the thoroughness of Chief Judge Woodcock to fully understand the complexities of trapping and our supplemental efforts to protect Canada lynx," Martin said.

"Our biologists work extremely hard to ensure the Canada lynx population thrives in Maine, and maintain that trapping serves as a legitimate wildlife management tool," he said. "Their efforts to do both so well was demonstrated in court and recognized by Chief Judge Woodcock."

The case — Animal Welfare Institute, et al. v. Roland D. Martin, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife — was the third attempt by animal rights advocates to halt the unintended trapping of lynx.

On March 23, 2000, Canada lynx were designated as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Since 1967, it has been illegal in Maine to intentionally hunt or trap lynx, but that didn't keep lynx from getting into traps set for legally trapped animals.

This incidental take of lynx is also prohibited by federal law and regulation, which is the crux of the Animal Welfare Institute's argument.

According to department records, since 1999, six lynx have been captured in Conibear traps, which are designed to kill an animal. Four of those lynx were caught between 1999 and June 2007.

Most Canada lynx caught in traps in Maine are not harmed and are promptly released back into the wild, Turcotte said. Major injuries are rare. Since 1999, only two lynx have been killed by legally set traps, she said.

During each trapping season, Maine regulations tolerated the accidental capture of lynx, which animal rights advocates found intolerable. Woodcock said those advocates sought declaratory relief and injunctions twice in the past three years against Maine laws and regulations.

The first suit ended in a consent decree between the Animal Protection Institute and the state, which committed the wildlife department to maintaining regulations that restrict the type, size and placement of traps in Maine.

The second suit, filed by Animal Welfare Institute and the Wildlife Alliance of Maine on Aug. 11, 2008, sought declaratory and injunctive relief against the department because lynx continued to be accidentally trapped.

On Nov. 26, 2008, the court ordered the state to immediately take action to avoid the trapping of lynx in Conibear traps.

On Dec. 4, 2008, the department adopted an emergency rule imposing more limitations on how those traps could be legally set in northern Maine. Within two weeks, however, two Canada lynx were found dead due to encounters with Conibear traps.

The Animal Welfare Institute moved for an emergency temporary restraining order, but the court denied the motion, Woodcock said. That led to the current case.

While no one really knows how many lynx are in Maine, the state's expert, chief wildlife biologist Ken Elowe, testified that the department estimates Maine has at least 650 breeding adults and at least 1,000 lynx, total.

Woodcock sided with Elowe, saying that the Animal Welfare Institute, which called the figures "overinflated," failed to disprove them.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com