The Second Circuit upheld the federal government's 2008 decision to take approximately 13,000 acres of land in central New York into trust on behalf of the Oneida Indian Nation of New York. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 authorizes the federal government to take land into trust on behalf of I...

The Federal Circuit affirmed in part and remanded in part a lower court decision dismissing a helium extraction company's breach of contract claims against the United States. In 1994, the parties entered a contract under which BLM gave the company the right to extract helium gas from roughly 21,000 ...

The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of environmental groups' lawsuit challenging the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's EIS for its updated land use plan. Applying a standard similar to the standard for evaluating an EIS under NEPA, the court held that the EIS and update adequately addressed the lo...

The Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court decision enjoining two wildfire reduction projects in the Gallatin National Forest—the Bozeman Municipal Watershed Project and the East Boulder Project—because FWS and the U.S. Forest Service failed to adequately assess impacts on lynx critical habitat in v...

The Ninth Circuit upheld NMFS' decision to list a distinct population segment (DPS) of the Pacific bearded seal under the ESA based on future impacts of climate change. Using climate projections, NMFS determined that even though the species is not presently endangered, the loss of sea ice over shall...