The Ninth Circuit held that FWS did not violate the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) when it authorized the taking of the barred owl to help the recovery of the spotted owl. The spotted owl was listed as endangered under the ESA in 1990, and it was later determined that one of the factors affecting ...

The Ninth Circuit held that portions of Idaho’s Agricultural Security Act violate the First Amendment. The law, enacted after a secretly-filmed expose of operations at an Idaho dairy farm went live on the internet, broadly criminalizes making misrepresentations to access an agricultural production...

A district court held that USDA Wildlife Services did not violate NEPA with its lethal wolf management policy in Idaho. In 2011, the gray wolf was delisted under the ESA in Idaho; as a result, management of the wolf population was returned to the state. Wildlife Services conducted an EA in 2011 conc...

The Federal Circuit held that the state of California did not infringe on an emissions trading-related patent, allowing the state's greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade program to continue. The plaintiff owns a U.S. patent that covers a method and apparatus for using electronic systems to claim an...

A district court held that the state of Texas cannot challenge the listing of the golden-cheeked warbler as endangered under the ESA. The state brought a lawsuit against FWS alleging that the agency unlawfully dismissed a petition to delist the golden-cheeked warbler. The petition provided evidence ...