A district court denied a water district's motion to intervene in an ESA lawsuit seeking protections for longfin smelt. The water district argued it had standing to intervene because its alleged injury—a reduction in water allocation—was economic, its injury was traceable to plaintiff's claims s...

The Fifth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part district court rulings in a collection of lawsuits concerning oil companies' decades of drilling activities along the Louisiana coast. Six Louisiana parishes filed suit in state court, arguing the companies violated the Louisiana State and Loca...

A district court denied a pipeline company's motion to dismiss a challenge to President Trump's issuance of a permit for construction of a cross-border segment of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Environmental groups had argued the president's issuance of the permit violated the Property Clause, the Co...

A district court denied a motion for preliminary injunction in a challenge to the National Park Service's (NPS') management practices for the tule elk population in an area of Point Reyes National Seashore. Plaintiffs argued the elk were dying from lack of adequate forage and water due to recent dro...

A district court denied a nonprofit group's motion to preliminarily enjoin BLM from gathering wild horses inside and adjacent to the Onaqui Mountain Herd Management Area. The group argued BLM's 2018 decision to gather the horses over a period of 10 years violated the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Bur...

A district court granted in part and denied in part environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Forest Service's and FWS' decisions concerning a revised forest plan for the Flathead National Forest. The groups argued the Services' decisions violated the ESA and NEPA. The ...

A district court granted summary judgment for FWS in a challenge to the adequacy of its recovery plan for the threatened bull trout. Environmental groups argued the plan failed to include objective and measurable criteria as required under §4(f) of the ESA. The court found that the ESA did not impo...

A district court denied FWS' motion to dismiss a challenge to its authorization of 12 leopard import permits from hunts expected to occur in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Zambia. Environmental groups argued FWS' authorization violated the ESA by making a non-detriment finding without considering the facto...

A district court dismissed two Pennsylvania state senators' challenge to the Delaware River Basin Commission's imposition of a moratorium on gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware Basin. The senators argued, among other things, that the moratorium exceeded the Commission's authority. ...

The Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment for FWS in a challenge to the Service's 2017 decision reversing its 2011 decision that the Pacific walrus qualified for listing under the ESA. An environmental group had argued the Service violated the APA by failing to sufficiently explain its change in p...