The court holds that a property owner cannot maintain an action for forcible ejectment against a company that was ordered to acquire the property owner's land as part of a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act remedial plan. The company, which obtained all of the land...

The court holds that two cattle company owners do not have a vested private-property right to graze their cattle in the Apache and Gila National Forests without a U.S. Forest Service permit. The owners argued that because their predecessors-in-title obtained a valid, vested water right under New Mex...

The court holds that a district court has jurisdiction under the Quiet Title Act (QTA) to review an Interior Board of Land Appeals' (IBLA's) decision that a Native American's claim for an allotment of land under the Native Allotment Act takes precedence over a state's earlier right-of-way grant in t...

The court holds that a band of Native Americans has the right to moor commercial fishing vessels at two municipally owned marinas on Lake Michigan. The court first holds that treaties signed in 1836 and 1855 provided for an easement of access to reach traditional fishing grounds, which includes the ...

The court holds that the political question doctrine does not bar a federal court from resolving landowners' suits alleging that a state-managed fish pass significantly contributed to beach erosion on their property. The court first holds that the landowners' claims for injunctive relief and damages...

The Court holds that the issue of liability in a developer's regulatory takings claim against a city was properly submitted to a jury. After the city imposed more rigorous demands each time it denied five proposals to develop a 37.6-acre oceanfront parcel in Monterey, California, the developer filed...

The court holds that the amount a bankrupt casino paid to the casino's previous owner for environmental remediation does not offset a debt owed the previous owner. The casino was to make monthly payments to the previous owner under the terms of a promissory note. It suspended payment, however, after...

A California appellate court held that the California Coastal Commission has appellate jurisdiction over a coastal development subdivision project. A county's approval of a "principal permitted use" development within a coastal zone is not appealable to the Commission. But when the development proje...

The Supreme Court of Ohio held that the territory of Lake Erie held in trust by the state of Ohio extends to the natural shoreline, which is the line at which the water usually stands when free from disturbing causes. Case law from 1878 and 1916, as well as the Fleming Act, enacted by the Ohio G...

A California appellate court held that the California Coastal Commission complied with the California Coastal Act and the California Environmental Quality Act when it certified a coastal development project along beachfront dune property in the city of Malibu. Petitioners argued that the commiss...