October, 1992 - Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Wild Swan, and Swan View Coalition submit formal petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) requesting listing of bull trout pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. The petition also seeks emergency listing of the most threatened populations and seeks concurrent designation of critical habitat.

May, 1993 - FWS issues "positive" 90-day finding on the bull trout petition, determining that the petition ?presents substantial biological information that the petitioned action may be warranted.? The positive finding triggers an official status review and starts the clock towards a twelve month finding.

April, 1994 - AWR and other groups reach out of court settlement with FWS, which agrees to publish a finding on the petition no later than June 8, 1994.

June, 1994 - FWS publishes finding on petition, declaring that bull trout are "warranted but precluded" for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

November, 1994 - Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Friends of the Wild Swan file suit against the FWS challenging the warranted but precluded finding.

December, 1994 - Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Wild Swan, Swan View Coalition, and Kettle Range Conservation Group file suit against the U.S. Forest Service, Regions 1, 4, and 6, for failure to provide for viable populations of bull trout and habitat protection pursuant to the National Forest Management Act.

April, 1995 - District Judge Robert Jones refuses to dismiss suit against the U.S. Forest Service, declaring that there is evidence of "unreasonable delay" by the U.S. Forest Service in taking steps to protect bull trout and its habitat.

August, 1995 -Judge Jones dismisses the suit against the FWS.

September, 1995 - AWR and FOWS appeal Judge Jones' ruling to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

March, 1996 - AWR and other groups reach out of court settlement with FWS on hatchery case that ensures no hatchery fish may be released into the wild and that any future hatchery plans for bull trout must be made public and comply with the National Environmental Policy Act.

April, 1996 - U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturns Judge Jones' decision and reinstates case against the FWS. Three judge panel sends the case back to district court for full hearing stating "there is a high public interest in resolving the issues surrounding the status of the bull trout."

November, 1996 - Judge Jones finds that the FWS were "arbitrary and capricious" in their warranted, but precluded finding and in their failure to respond to AWR/FOWS requests for emergency listings of bull trout.

May, 1997 - Judge Jones finds that the U.S. Forest Service was "arbitrary and capricious" in adopting their bull trout protection plans and found they violated the National Forest Management Act by failing to provide for the viability of the bull trout.

June, 1997 - FWS publishes proposed rule for listing in the Federal Register on June 11. This begins a 60 day comment period and public hearings.