A district court vacated DOI's decision to enter into a land exchange agreement to facilitate construction of a road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Conservation groups argued the agreement violated the APA because DOI failed to provide justification for reversing previous findin...

The Tenth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court's decision in a challenge to a natural gas pipeline company's expired easement on tribal land. The pipeline company appealed the district court's granting of summary judgment to tribal members on their trespass claims, arguing tha...

The Tenth Circuit dismissed Utah's challenge to a settlement agreement that requires BLM to revise motorized vehicle trails in southern Utah to minimize potential harm to wildlife, cultural, and archaeological sites. Before a district court, the state argued that the settlement agreement illegally c...

A district court declared unconstitutional a California law that regulates the recording of conveyances of federal public lands in the state. DOJ argued that the state law, which grants the State Lands Commission the right of first refusal on transfers of federal public lands, runs afoul of the doct...

In a modified opinion that withdraws a prior published opinion, the Ninth Circuit found that an environmental group has standing to challenge a uranium mining company's right to operate on land previously withdrawn from new mining claims. The group argued that the U.S. Forest Service violated the Ge...

A district court upheld President Barack Obama's 2016 proclamation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts off the New England coast as a marine national monument. Commercial fishing associations argued that the monument exceeded the president's authority under the Antiquities Act because it lies ent...

A district court remanded the U.S. Forest Service's decision concerning the management of roads and trails in the Santa Fe National Forest. An environmental group argued that the agency should have considered the effects of forest management on the endangered Jemez Mountains salamander. The magistra...

A district court preliminarily enjoined BLM from conducting oil and gas lease sales under the procedures of a new BLM directive. Environmental groups argued that the directive unlawfully constrains environmental review of, and public participation in, oil and gas lease decisions that affect and thre...

The Fourth Circuit vacated both an incidental take statement issued by FWS and a right-of-way permit issued by the National Park Service (NPS) for construction of a natural gas pipeline that intersects the Blue Ridge Parkway. Environmental groups argued that the take limits set by FWS in its Inciden...

The Fourth Circuit vacated and remanded BLM's decision granting a right-of-way through federal land for construction of a pipeline and the U.S. Forest Service's decision to amend the Jefferson National Forest Land Resource Management Plan to accommodate the right-of-way and pipeline construction. En...