A district court vacated in part and remanded in part FWS' 2014 determination to remove the Rio Grande cutthroat trout from the ESA list of endangered and threatened wildlife. An environmental group argued that FWS failed to adequately explain why it used different methodologies in its 2008 and 2014...

A district court granted in part a motion for summary judgment in a challenge to FWS' 2012 biological opinions concerning protections for the threatened Mexican spotted owl. An environmental group argued the opinions, which concluded that timber management activities proposed by the U.S. Forest Serv...

The D.C. Circuit granted a petition to review EPA's 2018 rule that set renewable fuel applicable volumes and percentage standards under the Renewable Fuel Standard Program. Environmental groups argued that the Agency violated the ESA by failing to consult with FWS and NMFS regarding whether the rule...

A district court vacated NMFS' 2014 decision not to list the queen conch, a marine mollusk that inhabits the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, as endangered or threatened under the ESA. Environmental groups argued the decision should be vacated because NMFS applied a now-vacated agency policy to det...

A district court granted in part and denied in part DOI's motion to dismiss a challenge to its 2017 interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that permitted the "incidental" taking of migratory birds. Environmental groups and states argued the agency's interpretation was arbitrary and capricio...

The Fourth Circuit vacated a biological opinion and incidental take statement issued by FWS in connection with a proposed natural gas pipeline that would run from West Virginia to North Carolina. Environmental groups argued that FWS improperly determined that construction of the pipeline would not j...

A district court dismissed a challenge to FWS' denial of a petition to remove the coastal California gnatcatcher from the ESA's threatened species list. Advocacy groups argued the Service's denial of their petition to delist the bird species violated the ESA because the decision was not based on an ...

A district court ordered the U.S. Forest Service to engage in formal consultation with other federal agencies to protect listed fish species being harmed by water diversions from the Salmon River in Idaho's Sawtooth National Recreation Area. An environmental group argued that the Service violated th...