The D.C. Circuit reversed summary judgment for Oregon counties, trade groups, and timber companies in five lawsuits concerning President Obama's expansion of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Plaintiffs argued that by outlawing logging on land included in the monument through Proclamation 9564...

The Ninth Circuit granted DOI's motion to dismiss a long-running land exchange dispute over construction of a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The court found the Secretary of the Interior's recent withdrawal of the exchange, which was approved by a previous Secretary, mooted the c...

A district court denied environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to BLM's 2020 rule that eliminated the 15-day protest process for timber sales and clarified that an authorizing officer can implement forest management decisions immediately. The groups argued BLM violated the ...

The Ninth Circuit reversed in part and vacated in part a district court's decision in a challenge to the Federal Subsistence Board's 2020 approval of two short-term changes to hunting practices on federal land in Alaska—the opening of an emergency deer and moose hunt for a federally recognized tri...

A district court granted summary judgment for DOI in a federally recognized tribe's challenge to the agency's refusal to take land into trust for a casino. The tribe argued DOI misinterpreted the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act (Michigan Act), and that its refusal violated the APA. The co...

A district court upheld BLM's approval of a proposed lithium mine project in Nevada. Environmental groups, ranchers, and tribes argued the project would cause unnecessary and undue degradation to the local sage-grouse population and habitat, groundwater aquifers, and air quality in violation of FLPM...

A district court vacated two rights-of-way that BLM issued to a company in 2020 to transport water through an existing gas pipeline across federal lands. Environmental groups sought vacatur, arguing the rights-of-way violated FLPMA, NEPA, and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). BLM agreed...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed, 2-1, a district court's denial of a Native American group's motion to preliminarily enjoin a land exchange and prevent copper mining on land in Arizona. The group argued the land exchange violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), the Free Exercise Clause, and...

A district court denied environmental groups' motion for a temporary restraining order in a challenge to BLM's authorization of livestock grazing on pastures containing research natural areas (RNAs). The groups argued BLM's regulations required fencing to be installed to section off the RNAs so they...

A district court granted in part environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to BLM's issuance of a 2018 instruction memorandum on greater sage grouse conservation and and subsequent oil and gas lease sales in Nevada and Wyoming. Environmental groups argued the lease sales confl...