The Institute is the lead plaintiff in a case against the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service. The case is meant to test whether those agencies violated public trust doctrine, common sense, and their responsibilities of stewardship in Yellowstone National Park by making agreements with private corporations to access and commercialize the biodiversity of that national park. The Institute recently won the first phase of this case. The litigation continues.

Follow the links below for more information on the case:

 

• Why the Institute went to court
  
  
  
• Press Release: Yellowstone 125th Birthday Celebration Tainted (15 August 1997)
  
  
  
• Chronology: Legal Activities and Events, July, 1997 - May, 1998
  
  
  
• Press Release: Babbitt and Others Sued for Betrayal of Public Trust (5 March 1998)
  
  
  
• Press Release: Public Interest Wins in Yellowstone (24 March 1999)
  
  
  
• Text of U.S. Federal Court Judge Royce Lamberth's Memorandum Opinion in Edmonds Institute, et. al. v. Bruce Babbit, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, et. al. (24 March 1999) - PDF format, see here to download free software to read this file.
  
  
  
• Second Decision in the case of Edmonds Institute, et al. v. Babbitt, Civ. Docket No. 98-561, 04/12/2000 - The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rules that the Yellowstone cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) between the Department of the Interior and Diversa does not violate the Federal Technology Transfer Act.
  
  
  
• National Park Service Issues Draft EIS for Comment, 09/26/2006
  After many years, the National Park Service begins compliance with the decision in Edmonds Institute, et al v. Babbit by releasing its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the use of benefits-sharing agreements throughout the entire National Park System. To view the draft EIS and to comment to the Park Service go to
  http://parkplanning.nps.gov
  and then select "Washington Office" from the park menu and follow the link for benefits-sharing.
  Comments are being accepted through January 29, 2007.
  
  
  
• Press Release about the DEIS and website with more information about commenting to the National Parks Service about bioprospecting and benefit sharing
  
  
  

---

Media Coverage

The Yellowstone case has been covered by the New York Times, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Washington Post, Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Science, Associated Press, United Press International, ABC News, CNN, NPR and a host of other national, regional, and local newspapers, magazines, and media outlets.

See, for example (links provided where available):

"Park Deal: Some Call it 'Biopiracy'", Sunday, November 9, 1997, Salt Lake Tribune

"Judge Halts Yellowstone Bioprospecting, Ruling That Public Input Was Bypassed", Friday, March 26, 1999, Salt Lake Tribune

"Microbe Suit Puts Park in Hot Water", Friday March 6, 1998, Salt Lake Tribune

"Yellowstone: A Gold Mine of Microbes", Sunday, July 21, 1998, page 1, the Washington Post

"The Secretive Sale of Yellowstone's Natural Resources", May 31, 1998, In These Times

"Bid to block Yellowstone enzymes deal", March 1998, Nature, volume 392, page 117

 

HOME