Washington – The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to get involved in an industry coalition's bid to remove the Alabama sturgeon from the endangered species list.
Without comment, the court on Monday let stand a ruling issued last year by the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had properly listed the fish as endangered.
An industry group called the Alabama-Tombigbee Rivers Coalition - including Alabama Power Co., the state ports authority and other river users such as barge operators - have challenged the listing, arguing that the fish should not be federally protected.
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