A district court held that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated NEPA and the ESA in approving certain operations at a fish hatchery on Oregon's Sandy River. NMFS regulations provide an exemption for the otherwise unlawful take of anadromous fish caused by a hatchery's artificial pro...

A district court denied environmental groups' motions for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's wolf trapping and hunting program in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness area. Since December 2013, seven gray wolves have bee...

The North Dakota Supreme Court held that the state owns the mineral interests under the shore zone of the Missouri River, which cuts through the oil-rich Bakken Shale region. Under the equal footing doctrine, the state's title to the beds of navigable waters extends from high watermark to high water...

A district court dismissed an animal rights group's lawsuit seeking to compel USDA to enforce the general Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulations with respect to the mistreatment of birds and to promulgate new AWA regulations that are specific to birds. Although the group successfully demonstrated orga...

A district court held that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has until August 1, 2014, to revise its plan for protecting whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and sea lions from U.S. Navy warfare training exercises along the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. The court previously...

The Federal Circuit, on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' temporary deviations from the water release rates set forth in an operating plan for the Clearwater Dam that caused increased flooding in Arkansas' Dave Donaldson Black River Wildlife Management A...