The First Circuit reversed a district court ruling in a challenge to NMFS' 2024 rule finalizing a 2022 emergency rule that seasonally banned vertical buoy lines used in lobster and Jonah crab trap fishing from certain federal waters off Massachusetts to reduce risk of injury or death to the endanger...

A district court granted in part and denied in part summary judgment for an environmental group in a lawsuit concerning NMFS' approval of a management plan proposed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for releasing hatchery-raised fish into the Upper Willamette River. The group argued NMFS...

In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for FWS in a challenge to its decision not to list the Tucson shovel-nosed snake as endangered under the ESA. An environmental group petitioned FWS to list the species in 2004, and again in 2020 after the Service rejected the ini...

A district court denied an animal advocacy group's request to vacate and remand FWS' decisions approving a general conservation plan (GCP) and incidental take permits for the Utah prairie dog. The group argued the decision to approve the GCP was arbitrary and capricious because the plan will not ful...

In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Forest Service in a challenge to its decision to approve a herd management plan for wild horses in Ochoco National Forest. A group of conservationists argued the Service violated the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Ac...

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed a trial court ruling that declared the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) violated youths' state constitutional right to a "clean and healthful environment." The youths argued a provision of MEPA that precluded analysis of greenhouse gas emissions in EAs and E...

A district court granted an electric transmission developer's motion for preliminary injunction against Indiana's 2023 law that granted incumbent transmission owners a right of first refusal to build transmission projects in their service areas. The developer argued the law blocked it from bidding o...

A district court granted the Maine Department of Marine Resources' motion to dismiss a challenge to its rule that compels federally licensed lobstermen to install a tracking device on their fishing vessels. The lobstermen challenged the rule under the Maine Administrative Procedure Act (MAPA) and on...

A district court granted in part nonprofit and public interest groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's (APHIS') 2020 rule concerning regulation of genetically engineered (GE) organisms. The groups argued the rule effectively abandoned fe...

A district court granted summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to Wildlife Services' reauthorization of a predator damage and conflict management program in Montana under which grizzly bears may be killed. The groups argued the Services violated NEPA by failing to include critical...