The court holds that the Quiet Title Act does not require the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) to refer the determination of chain of title mining claims to the federal district court. Appellants claimed that the IBLA's failure to refer the claims violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA)...

The Court holds that an environmental group's challenge to a U.S. Forest Service land and resource management plan (LRMP) for Wayne National Forest in Ohio is not yet ripe for review. The environmental group brought suit alleging that the Forest Service's approval of the Wayne National Forest LRMP v...

The court upholds the U.S. Forest Service's approval of four timber sales in the Ozark National Forest. A coalition of environmental groups sued the Forest Service to enjoin or set aside the timber sales. The court first holds that the district court did not abuse its discretion by limiting its revi...

The court holds that owners of property atop South Mountain in Washington County, Maryland, were not entitled to an increase in the amount awarded them in a condemnation proceeding. The property owners contend that the district court erred in granting the U.S. government's motion in limine seeking t...

The court holds that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) preempts failure to warn claims brought by the purchasers of a container of chlorine tablets, but that FIFRA does not preempt their defective packaging and product design claims. The court first holds that the purch...

The court affirms the denial of landowners' untimely demand for a jury trial on the issue of just compensation in a condemnation proceeding initiated by the United States. The United States was attempting to obtain 42 acres of the landowners' property for the purposes of administering, preserving, a...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service's consideration of a fire's effects on a proposed timber sale in the Colville National Forest in Washington was not arbitrary and capricious. After a fire burned 10,000 acres, including 133 acres of the proposed timber harvest area, the Forest Service pre...

The court holds that a district court abused its discretion by abstaining from a case in which landowners challenge, on federal due process and equal protection grounds, a New York land use law restricting development on Long Island. The court first holds that the case did not require abstention on ...

The court holds that the Federal Mining Act of 1872 preempts a local zoning ordinance that bans surface metal mining within the Spearfish Canyon area of South Dakota. The court first holds that miners' preemption claim against the county ordinance is ripe. The miners have shown a realistic danger of...

The court holds that local school districts, municipalities, and timber companies may intervene as of right in litigation brought by plaintiff-environmentalists to restrict logging activities in the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. The court first notes that the parties do not dispute the ...