ELR Citation: 54 ELR 20038
No(s). 22-5216 (D.C. Cir. Mar 5, 2024)

The D.C. Circuit affirmed dismissal of a challenge to two FWS rules that delayed a 2021 proposed rule to reduce the amount of land in the Pacific Northwest designated as critical habitat for the northern spotted owl. A logging group challenged the validity of the rules delaying the effective date of the proposed rule, but after the rules expired, the district court determined the group's claims were moot and dismissed the suit. The appellate court agreed, finding the group had not shown how invalidating the expired rules would provide it with any "effectual relief," and that the "capable of repetition yet evading review" exception to mootness did not apply here. It affirmed dismissal.