ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20089
No(s). 6:16-cv-01710-AA (D. Or. Jul 29, 2022) (Aiken, J.)

A district court on remand granted environmental groups' request for a permanent injunction in an ESA citizen suit concerning a logging project on private land in Oregon. In initial proceedings, the groups sought a preliminary injunction, arguing the project would result in the taking of marbled murrelets, a threatened sea bird species, in violation of the ESA. The district court granted the preliminary injunction, and the logging companies appealed. The Ninth Circuit upheld findings on three of the four preliminary injunction factors, but reversed and remanded to determine whether it was "likely" that the species inhabited the proposed logging area and would be harmed by the project. On remand, the district court found that the groups proved by a preponderance of the evidence that marbled murrelets "occupied" the area in question, and that the project would harm and harass the birds, resulting in a take of a listed species in violation of ESA §9. It permanently enjoined the companies from implementing the project.