A district court held that BLM violated NEPA and the APA when it authorized a logging project in an area of Douglas County, Oregon, that provides habitat for the northern spotted owl. In its EA for the project, which would effectively remove 160 acres of mature forest, BLM failed to consider a reaso...

A district court held that environmental groups may go forward with their ESA lawsuit challenging OSM's issuance of SMCRA permits for two surface coal mines. The groups alleged that OSM failed to adequately consider how wastewater discharges from the mines would impact the Cumberland darter and blac...

The Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court decision affirming the U.S. Forest Service's decision to implement the Little Slate Project, a 2,598-acre timber thinning sale within the Nez Perce National Forest. Environmental groups asserted that the Forest Service and FWS violated the National Forest Manag...

The Ninth Circuit upheld the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS') biological opinion regarding the impact of continuing water extraction in the California Central Valley on certain threatened and endangered salmonid species. In its biological opinion, NMFS determined that the Bureau of Reclam...

A district court, in a 100+-page opinion, vacated an FWS rule removing the western Great Lakes distinct population segment (DPS) of gray wolves from the ESA’s list of protected species and ordered the agency to reinstate immediately the protections for gray wolves in the affected area as these pro...

A district court refused to vacate a biological opinion issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in which it determined that the operation of the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery would not jeopardize the continued existence of the Northwest Atlantic population segment of loggerhead sea tur...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision granting summary judgment in favor of the federal government on claims that it violated ESA, NEPA, and National Forest Management Act in connection with its approval of a lumber thinning and fuel reduction project in northern California. An environme...

The Fifth Circuit denied a motion to rehear its earlier decision that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) did not cause the unlawful take of endangered whooping cranes in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in violation of ESA §9. All but 4 of the 15 circuit court judges voted aga...

A district court held that the Farm Service Agency and the Small Business Administration violated NEPA and the ESA when they guaranteed loans to a hog farm without adequately assessing the farm's environmental impact. The farm, which houses 6,500 swine, is located near a tributary of the Buffalo Nat...

A district court vacated and remanded the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS') decision denying environmental and animal rights groups' petitions to list the porbeagle shark as endangered or threatened under the ESA. When NMFS receives a petition to list a species, it must make an initial fin...