Action timeline

1999 – The Center first petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to list the Cook Inlet beluga whale under the Endangered Species Act.

May 8, 2000 – The Center, along with a coalition of environmental groups, filed a lawsuit to force the Fisheries Service to take action on the listing petition. In response, the Fisheries Service declared the Cook Inlet beluga population a “depleted species” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

April 20, 2006 – The Center joined Cook Inletkeeper and other conservation groups to petition the Fisheries Service a second time to list the Cook Inlet beluga whale under the Endangered Species Act.

April 20, 2007 – The Fisheries Service proposed listing the Cook Inlet beluga whale as an endangered species, and the agency received more than 150,000 public comments in support of listing. A final listing decision was scheduled to be made by April 2008.

April 22, 2008 – The Fisheries Service extended the deadline for its final listing decision to October 2008.

June 30, 2008 – The Center and four allies filed suit against the Fisheries Service for its illegal delay in listing the Cook Inlet beluga whale.

October 17, 2008 – The Fisheries Service declared it would list the Cook Inlet beluga as endangered under the Endangered Species Act but failed to designate critical habitat.

January 14, 2009 – Alaska Governor Sarah Palin led her state in filing a notice of intent to sue to overturn the beluga’s federal protections.

April 13, 2009 – Six months after it legally should have designated critical habitat for the whale, the Fisheries Service took the first steps toward doing so, requesting public comment on areas to be protected. A final critical habitat rule was slated to be made by October 22, 2009.