A district court denied a motion for a preliminary injunction in a challenge against FWS' failure to act on pending elephant trophy import permit applications. Hunting and tourism groups and elephant sport hunters sought an injunction requiring FWS to expeditiously process all pending and subsequent...
A district court denied local government entities' and landowners' request to temporarily halt construction of a 430-mile natural gas pipeline in Texas. Plaintiffs argued that allowing construction without an incidental take permit under §10 of the ESA would result in an unlawful take of endangered...
The Tenth Circuit reversed and remanded a district court ruling upholding FWS' designation of critical habitat for the endangered jaguar. Ranching groups challenged the designation because it did not comport with the ESA's requirement that such areas be "essential for the conservation of the species...
A district court dismissed a challenge to FWS' development of guidelines implementing its species status assessments (SSA) program under the ESA. An environmental group argued that the Service failed to provide public notice and an opportunity for comment on the guidelines, thus depriving the group ...
A district court dismissed for lack of standing a challenge to FWS' decision to delist the threatened Louisiana black bear under the ESA. Individuals and nonprofit groups challenged the Service's conclusions in its decision that the bear was recovered and no longer met the definition of a threatened...
A district court held that FWS must reconsider its approval of a proposed open-pit copper mine in the Coronado National Forest. An environmental group argued the agency improperly used a heightened standard of review when it determined the mine was unlikely to result in destruction or adverse modifi...
A district court held that FWS' decision to list the northern long-eared bat as threatened rather than endangered under the ESA was arbitrary and capricious. Environmental groups argued that the rationale FWS relied on to reach its decision—that the species had not yet suffered declines and appear...
The Endangered Species Act defines an endangered species as one at risk of extinction “throughout all or a significant portion of its range.” The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has repeatedly defined “significant portion” to mean an area of the range essential to species persistence. This definition is redundant, and various iterations of the definition have been struck down in the past. At the same time, other proposals to list a species only in a portion of its range fail to satisfy the statutory requirements.
The Tenth Circuit held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was not required to consult with FWS about alternative water management policies in the Rio Grande River that would help protect the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher and the Rio Grande silvery minnow. An environmental group argued...
The Fifth Circuit vacated FWS' 2016 decision denying a petition to delist the golden-cheeked warbler, which was listed as an endangered species under the ESA in 1990. Texas' General Land Office argued that the decision violated NEPA because the Service failed to prepare an EIS. The court found that ...