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US Case Palila v. Hawaii Department of Lane and Natural Resources

United States of America
Hawaii
Approved in 1981
Case
Eco-Governance System
The Palila
Animal
Michael R. Sherwood, Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Inc., San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellees
Civil Society, NGO

Summary

In 1981, Sierra Club and others brought forth a case in the name of Palila (an endangered bird species in the ecosystem of Mauna Kea) as a plaintiff in its own right under the Endangered Species Act, contending that the Palila was harmed by the presence of mouflon sheep. The case affirmed that Hawaii’s game management practices involving feral goats and sheep violated the Endangered Species Act and constituted unlawful “taking” because the goats and sheep threatened the ecological capacity of the Mamane Forest, the natural habitat of the Palila. The Sierra Club reopened the case in 1984 to amend its original complaint to add mouflon sheep as destructive animals. The court ruled in favor of the Sierra Club in 1986 and again in an appeals case in 1988.

To see the original legal document(s) for this initiative, click the links below:

Palila v Hawaii Department of Land & Natural Resources Case Statement [PDF]
Palila v Hawaii Suplemental 1070 [PDF]
Palila v Hawaii Appeals Decision [PDF]
Palila v Hawaii Appeals Conclusion [PDF]

To see other supplementary information related to this initiative, click the links below:

Summary
Animal Legal and Historical Center Summary

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