The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision denying environmental groups’ motion to preliminarily enjoin a logging project in the Whitman-Wallowa National Forest in northeast Oregon. The lower court held that the groups were not likely to succeed on any of their ...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed as untimely a coal mine operator’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a DOI regulation requiring coal mine operators to pay a fee for each ton of coal they produce by mining. The regulation requires mine operators to pay the reclamation fee when the coal is ult...

A district court held that FWS' delay in developing and implementing a recovery plan for the Canada lynx, which was listed as threatened in 2000, is unreasonable. The ESA directs FWS to prepare a recovery plan for listed species but does not include a timetable or indication of the speed with which ...

The Ninth Circuit held that BLM's roundup or "gather" of approximately 1,639 wild horses and 160 burros from the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area (HMA) on the California-Nevada border complied with the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act and NEPA. Post-gather, 793 wild horses and 160 burros resid...

A New York appellate court reversed a lower court decision annulling a local law aimed at preventing the despoilation and destruction of wetlands and watercourses. The lower court ruled that the town enacted the law in violation of New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), but the a...