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...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court's grant of summary judgment in favor of an environmental group requiring the USDA, under FOIA, to disclose the GPS coordinates of wolf depredations to which it had responded. The district court held that the coordinates were not exempt from disclosure...

A district court remanded the FWS' final rule listing the polar bear as a “threatened” species under the ESA. Shortly after FWS issued the rule, several groups filed suit, some arguing that the polar bear should have been listed as endangered, and others arguing that the bear does not qu...

The Ninth Circuit held that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), but not NEPA, when it authorized Idaho, Oregon, and Washington to kill up to 85 California sea lions annually at the Bonneville Dam in order to protect salmon in the Columbia Ri...

A district court held that the U.S. Forest Service's Public Wheeled Motorized Travel Management Decision for the Eldorado National Forest violated the ESA and the National Forest Management Act. The decision designates specific roads and trails within the forest as open to public motor vehicle ...

A district court held that the FWS' biological opinion (BiOp) for the U.S. Army's proposed ongoing and future operations at Fort Huachuca—a major military installation in southeastern Arizona—violates the ESA and is arbitrary and capricious. The BiOp concluded that the operations will not jeopar...

The First Circuit affirmed a lower court decision denying a motion to enjoin Maine state officials from allowing the use of any foothold traps to prevent the incidental take of Canadian lynx, a threatened species. The lower court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion, as the ani...

A district court, on a motion to amend judgment, extended the FWS' deadline for completing its biological opinion (BiOp) for the threatened delta smelt as well as the Bureau of Reclamation's deadline to complete review of the FWS' reasonable and prudent alternative (RPA) under NEPA. In December...

The Ninth Circuit held that a U.S. Forest Service decision that a proposed mining operation may proceed based on the miner's notice of intent (NOI) does not constitute an "agency action" for purposes of triggering the ESA's interagency consultation obligations. The case involves the Forest Serv...