Court rebuffs Makah's appeal over whaling | Seattle P-I

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Court rebuffs Makah's appeal over whaling
Ruling may put tribe's next hunt off for years

By LEWIS KAMB
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

For the third time, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday the Makah Tribe must comply with more stringent environmental procedures before seeking to hunt gray whales -- a decision likely to mean years of process before tribal whalers will know whether they can ever legally hunt again.

The decision from a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals essentially echoed two previous rulings by the court:

The Makah Tribe cannot hunt gray whales until the U.S. government conducts a full-blown environmental analysis; and the tribe and the federal agency that sponsors its hunts also must win an exception to the Marine Mammal Protection Act before any tribal whaling can take place again.

Animal rights activists who took the U.S.-sponsored Makah hunts to court hailed yesterday's ruling as the latest sign that America's legal system doesn't support the killing of whales.

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