A district court denied tribes' and conservation groups' request to preliminarily enjoin construction of a transmission line through the San Pedro Valley in Arizona. The plaintiffs argued BLM violated the National Historic Preservation Act when it authorized construction to begin without assessing t...
A district court granted in part and denied in part animal rights groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to BLM's recent roundup of wild horses at the Pancake Complex in eastern Nevada. The groups argued BLM violated the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (WHA) by failing to approve...
A district court granted in part and denied in part summary judgment for an animal rights group in a lawsuit concerning BLM's adoption of four 10-year management plans for controlling wild horse populations in certain herd management areas. The group argued BLM exceeded its statutory authority under...
Concerned by methane’s potent climate-altering emissions, a growing number of states and municipalities have embraced the phaseout of natural gas as a tool to mitigate climate change. But in April 2023, the California Restaurant Association successfully petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to overturn the city of Berkeley’s ban on natural gas infrastructure in new buildings. The three-judge panel found the ban preempted by the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act, and in January 2024, the Ninth Circuit denied Berkeley’s petition for rehearing.
A district court granted in part and denied in part summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to an Idaho law authorizing expanded authorization of recreational wolf trapping and snaring in the state's grizzly bear habitat. The groups argued Idaho's continued authorization and expansi...
A district court denied the state of Alaska's and North Slope Borough's challenge to NMFS' decision not to delist the Arctic ringed seal as an endangered species following their 2019 petition. The plaintiffs argued NMFS failed to credit new information from FWS' analysis, failed to credit the Interg...
In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part summary judgment for FWS in a challenge to the Service's issuance of an incidental take regulation for polar bears living along Alaska's Beaufort Sea. Environmental groups argued FWS failed to satisfy the Marine Mamma...
A magistrate judge recommended summary judgment be granted in part and denied in part for environmental groups in a challenge to the Forest Service's 2018 revision to the forest management plan for Flathead National Forest. The groups argued the Forest Service and FWS failed to rationally consider t...
The Tenth Circuit affirmed dismissal of an environmental group's petition to review FWS' revised land management plan for the Rio Grande National Forest. The group argued FWS' biological opinion (BiOp), which concluded the plan would not likely jeopardize the Canada lynx's continued existence, faile...
The Third Circuit granted petitions to review FERC orders allowing the administrator of a 2024/2025 capacity auction to apply a new rule retroactively to a pending action to avoid a spike in electricity prices. Electric suppliers and their trade groups argued the orders violated the filed rate doctr...