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 decistion 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.