The court holds that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS') denial of an incidental take permit authorizing logging on 40 acres of protected owl habitat was neither a physical nor a regulatory taking. Contrary to the lower court's decision, the landowners' claim is ripe. Although the FWS invite...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) did not violate NEPA, relevant CEQ regulations, or the CAA when it failed to evaluate the environmental impact of increased cross-border operations of Mexican motor carriers in its EA because any environmental i...

The Sixth Circuit held that a district court improperly failed to vacate or modify an injunction that prevented the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) from revisiting its decision regarding a highway extension. An environmental group sued to enjoin construction, stating that the project required ...

The D.C. Circuit held that FERC complied with NEPA in approving a company's application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct a pipeline extension through Southwest Virginia and North Carolina. FERC's process for ventilating and analyzing potential environmental impacts ...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision concerning challenges to a plan to redirect water from the Sacramento River Basin back to the Trinity River in order to revive its chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead trout populations. Contrary to the lower court'...

The Tenth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a timber company's claim challenging the U.S. Forest Service's Historical Preservation Plan (HPP) for the Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark and Vicinity in the Bighorn National Forest. The Forest Service rejected the company's challenge to the HPP, w...

The Ninth Circuit upheld the Secretary of Commerce's decision to allocate a portion of the U.S. harvest of Pacific whiting to the Makah Indian Tribe. Because the "best available scientific information" supports a sliding scale method of allocation, the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS') rel...

A district court enjoined and vacated a final U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) rule that reduced protection afforded to the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by changing its status from "endangered" to "threatened" in some regions. The FWS' interpretation of "significant portion o...

A Nevada court upheld a county decision denying a company's request for a special use permit to mine clay from two open pits on federal land north of Reno, Nevada, and to build a plant to produce cat litter on private land nearby. The Mining Law of 1872 and federal regulations don't exempt the proje...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) was required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to consider the connected and cumulative impacts of a timber company's proposed timber-management project and six applications for access-road permits to the company. The Forest...