Alberta Wilderness Association v. Minister of Environment. Country/Territory Canada Type of court National - higher court Date Jul 9, 2009 Source UNEP, InforMEA Court name Federal Court Seat of court Vancouver Judge Zinn- Reference number 2009 FC 710 Language English Subject Wild species & ecosystems Keyword Protection of habitats Abstract In Sage Grouse, the Federal Court allowed the judicial review application of a coalition of environmental groups challenging the decision of the Minister of Environment to refuse to identify critical habitat in the Greater Sage Grouse Recovery Strategy, posted January 14 2008. The recovery strategy identified requirements for four types of habitat: breeding, nesting, brood-rearing and winter. The Minister concluded that, based on the available scientific evidence, no critical habitat could be identified with respect to any of these requirements. The facts, however, showed that critical habitat was identifiable for three of the four habitat types. The Court agreed with the applicants that the Minister must identify as much critical habitat as possible in a recovery strategy, even if all critical habitat cannot be identified at the time the Ministry is developing the recovery strategy. In particular, the Court noted that the Ministry of Environment appeared to be seeking precision rather than using best available information in identifying critical habitat. While that information may change over time, the identification of critical habitat cannot be postponed for that reason alone. The court refused to find an error of law, however, it did conclude that the Ministers decision not to identify any critical habitat, despite such habitat being known, was unreasonable. The Court ordered the Minister to remedy the critical habitat provision in the recovery strategy, and invited the applicants to make submissions on that point. The applicants argued for a redetermination of critical habitat on the basis of the judgment and additional scientific information provided since the initial judgment. However, the court agreed with the respondent Minister that the recovery strategy need only be updated to correct the deficiencies originally found by the Court, i.e., to identify as critical habitat all known active breeding sites in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and known source habitat within the Manyberries area. Full text 2009fc710.html