The D.C. Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part summary judgment for commercial fishermen in a challenge to an NMFS rule implementing an amendment to a fishery management plan for reef fish resources in the Gulf of Mexico. The fishermen argued the amendment arbitrarily relied on an economic a...

A district court granted in part and denied in part a tribe's motion for partial summary judgment in a lawsuit concerning a hydroelectric dam on the Puyallup River in Washington. The tribe argued the dam operator's installation of a temporary rock dam/spillway unlawfully harmed and harassed Chinook ...

A district court denied nonprofit groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to FWS' 2016 decision to delist the Louisiana black bear after determining its population had recovered and was no longer threatened. The groups argued FWS should not have included the Upper Atchafalaya River Basin ...

A district court granted NMFS' motion to dismiss a challenge to its lobster fishing gear regulations. Environmental groups argued the regulations did not adequately protect the endangered North American right whale, in violation of the ESA and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. NMFS moved to dismiss ...

A district court granted environmental groups' motion to lift a stay of a suit challenging NMFS' biological opinion (BiOp) concerning oil and gas activity in the Gulf of Mexico. The groups initially argued NMFS issued a flawed BiOp that underestimated the risks of harm to protected species and took ...

A district court granted in part summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to a National Park Service (NPS) agreement with Miami-Dade County to facilitate development of a waterpark, hotel, and retail area near the Miami Zoo. The groups argued NPS violated NEPA and the ESA by failing ...

The Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment for FWS in a challenge to its biological opinion (BiOp) concerning water pumping impacts on ESA-protected species in Arizona's San Pedro River Basin. An environmental group argued the BiOp, which concluded that a conservation easement proposed to compensat...

A district court granted in part and denied in part environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin the state of Montana's wolf trapping and snaring season as authorized by recently approved regulations. The groups argued the regulations, which expanded both the length of the season and the geo...

A district court granted FWS' motion for partial voluntary remand in a challenge to its decision to list the eastern black rail as threatened instead of endangered. Environmental groups argued FWS' decision, and related determination that designation of critical habitat for the rail was "not prudent...

A district court granted in part and denied in part federal agencies' motion for remand and partial vacatur in a challenge to a decision granting a right-of-way for construction of a new highway through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in Utah, a critical habitat for the Mojave Desert torto...