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Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility v. Bernhardt

A district court dismissed for lack of standing a challenge to FWS' decision to delist the threatened Louisiana black bear under the ESA. Individuals and nonprofit groups challenged the Service's conclusions in its decision that the bear was recovered and no longer met the definition of a threatened...

Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service

A district court held that FWS must reconsider its approval of a proposed open-pit copper mine in the Coronado National Forest. An environmental group argued the agency improperly used a heightened standard of review when it determined the mine was unlikely to result in destruction or adverse modifi...

Downstream Addicks and Barker (Texas) Flood-Control Reservoirs

The Court of Federal Claims held that the U.S. government was not liable for the flooding of homes near two dams managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Houston during Hurricane Harvey. Property owners downstream of the dams argued that the government flooded their lands by opening the dams' ...

Center for Biological Diversity v. Everson

A district court held that FWS' decision to list the northern long-eared bat as threatened rather than endangered under the ESA was arbitrary and capricious. Environmental groups argued that the rationale FWS relied on to reach its decision—that the species had not yet suffered declines and appear...

"Significant Portion of Its Range": Statutory Interpretation of the ESA

The Endangered Species Act defines an endangered species as one at risk of extinction “throughout all or a significant portion of its range.” The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has repeatedly defined “significant portion” to mean an area of the range essential to species persistence. This definition is redundant, and various iterations of the definition have been struck down in the past. At the same time, other proposals to list a species only in a portion of its range fail to satisfy the statutory requirements.

WildEarth Guardians v. United States Army Corps of Engineers

The Tenth Circuit held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was not required to consult with FWS about alternative water management policies in the Rio Grande River that would help protect the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher and the Rio Grande silvery minnow. An environmental group argued...