The D.C. Circuit held that a single sighting of a protected species is insufficient to render a property "occupied" for purposes of designating critical habitat under the ESA. In 2007, the FWS designated 143 acres of plaintiffs' property as critical habitat for the San Diego fairy shrimp under the E...

The Ninth Circuit held that ESA §§7 and 9, as applied to the California delta smelt, do not violate the Commerce Clause. In 2008, the FWS issued a biological opinion (BiOp) to the Bureau of Reclamation concerning two federal and state water diversion projects in California's Central Valley...

The Tenth Circuit held that an individual's conviction under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act for unlawfully possessing 141 eagle feathers does not violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. The individual is a follower of a Native American faith but is neither a member of a fede...

A district court vacated the FWS' removal of the Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel from the list of endangered species. Instead of applying the criteria set forth in the squirrel's recovery plan when it issued the delisting rule, the FWS conducted an analysis based on the five listing factors contai...

The Third Circuit upheld regulations issued by the National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) implementing an amendment to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan that, among other things, sets a "control date" that effectively terminates the access rights of general scallop fishermen w...

The Fourth Circuit held that a biological opinion issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service as part of EPA's process of reregistering the insecticides chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and malathion is subject to judicial review under the APA. The Service's biological opinion concluded that the...

A district court upheld the FWS' biological opinion and the U.S. Forest Service's EIS and record of decision for the Idaho Roadless Rule. The court therefore denied environmental groups' request to enjoin the rule and replace it with the nationwide roadless rule that was enacted in 2001. The...

The Ninth Circuit amended dicta set forth in its prior opinion at 40 ELR 20233, which held that property owners and three employees of the California Department of Fish and Game did not violate the ESA when they dug up and removed Sebastopol meadowfoam—an endangered plant species—from privately ...

A district court denied various states' motion to issue a preliminary injunction compelling the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take all available measures to prevent the emigration of invasive silver and bighead carp through the Chicago Area Waterway System into Lake Michigan. In the face of multia...

The Ninth Circuit held that FWS' biological opinion addressing a hatchery project's impact on the bull trout in the Columbia River violates the ESA. Although the hatchery project is intended to mitigate a dam's impacts on Chinook salmon, it has seriously disrupted the migration and spawning activity...