The court holds that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) did not violate Endangered Species Act (ESA) §4(b)(3)(A) when it relied on its 1997 listing priority guidance and failed to make a preliminary 90-day finding on a petition to list the Columbian sharp-tail grouse as endangered. In respons...

The court holds that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) satisfied their Endangered Species Act (ESA) obligations concerning possible adverse affects of an emergency housing project on endangered and threatened turtle and snake species. The cou...

The court holds that it lacks jurisdiction over a building association's appeal of a decision upholding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS') listing of four species of fairy shrimp as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The district court granted partial summary judgmen...

The court holds that environmental organizations have standing to assert an Endangered Species Act (ESA) §9 claim against a lumber company whose timber harvesting operations are allegedly causing the take of coho salmon. The court first holds that the organizations have satisfied each of the elemen...

The court affirms a district court order lifting a temporary restraining order and denying environmental groups' motion to permanently enjoin the construction of a new school on property that allegedly contains potential habitat for the endangered cactus ferruginous pygmy owl. The court first holds ...

The court holds that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS') petition management guidance policy violated the plain terms of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and that the Secretary of the Interior improperly relied on the policy when she refused to issue 12-month findings in response to the grou...

The court holds that property owners and residents failed to satisfy Endangered Species Act (ESA) §11 notice requirements in their suit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) concerning an emergency housing project's alleged taking of endangered and threatened turtle species, but th...

The court holds that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) arbitrarily and capriciously listed several subpopulations of bull trout as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In 1994, FWS concluded that listing the bull trout as a species was warranted but precluded. Then, in response ...

The court vacates two Court of International Trade orders that were issued after an environmental group withdrew its motion to enforce the Court of International Trade's ruling pertaining to the enforcement of turtle excluder device regulations under §609 of the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Justic...

The court holds that various federal agencies violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in their preparations of biological assessments (BAs), biological opinions (BOs), and environmental impact statements (EIS) with respect to the survival of the Son...