The Sixth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision dismissing residents' NEPA lawsuit against the National Park Service (NPS) concerning its approval of a scenic trailway through the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. One of the alternative routes for the trailway, which NPS proposed...

A district court enjoined BLM from suspending or delaying the requirements of its waste prevention rule, which was issued to reduce emissions of natural gas from venting, flaring, and leaks during oil and gas production activities on onshore federal land. The rule went into effect on January 17, 201...

The Tenth Circuit held that the Forest Service does not have to fulfill an environmental group's FOIA request for documents created by a third-party contractor related to a land exchange in Colorado. At the center of the case was an agreement between a developer and the Forest Service to exchange pr...

The Ninth Circuit rejected challleges to a 2012 DOI decision to withdraw from new uranium mining claims, up to twenty years, over one million acres of land near Grand Canyon National Park. The lands were withdrawn, subject to existing valid claims, with the intent to protect water resources in the G...

A district court held that the Forest Service did not violate NEPA when it reduced grazing permits on federal land in New Mexico. The Jarita Mesa Allotment and the Alamosa Allotment are both within the El Rito Ranger District of Carson National Forest. The Forest Service issues ten-year permits that...

A district court held that a group of North Dakota property owners could not sue contractors hired to negotiate easements for the Dakota Access pipeline for misrepresentation and fraud. The contractors were hired to obtain easements from property owners to secure a path for the Dakota Access pipelin...

The Ninth Circuit held that the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act did not limit the Park Service from applying the hovercraft ban on the Nation River in the Yukon-Charley preserve. A plaintiff sought to use his hovercraft in a national preserve to reach moose hunting grounds. While sta...

The Tenth Circuit held that BLM's approval of coal leases in the Wyoming Powder River Basin violated NEPA. In its 2010 EIS for the leases, BLM concluded that there was no appreciable difference between the United States’ total carbon dioxide emissions under its preferred alternative and the no-act...

The California Supreme Court held that the state Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was not preempted by federal law. The North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA) undertook a project to update and repair railroad tracks that run across the Eel and Russian Rivers and restore freight operation in the areas...

The Ninth Circuit held that FWS and the Forest Service did not violate the National Forest Management Act when they approved the thinning of trees and undergrowth from portions of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The case involved a Revised Recovery Plan that specified guidelines for protection o...