The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for DOD in a challenge to construction and operation of a new aircraft base in Okinawa, Japan, and its potential adverse effects on the endangered Okinawa dugong. Individuals and environmental groups argued that DOD failed to take into account the adverse ...

A district court vacated a nationwide permit reissued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that allowed for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline across waterways. Environmental groups argued the reissuance violated the ESA by failing to initiate programmatic consultation. The court found that dec...

A district court held that NMFS violated the ESA by approving a U.S. lobster fishery without adequately considering the fishery's impact on the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Conservation groups argued the agency violated the ESA by failing to include an incidental take statement (ITS) in it...

A district court denied a motion for a preliminary injunction in a challenge against FWS' failure to act on pending elephant trophy import permit applications. Hunting and tourism groups and elephant sport hunters sought an injunction requiring FWS to expeditiously process all pending and subsequent...

A district court denied local government entities' and landowners' request to temporarily halt construction of a 430-mile natural gas pipeline in Texas. Plaintiffs argued that allowing construction without an incidental take permit under §10 of the ESA would result in an unlawful take of endangered...

The Tenth Circuit reversed and remanded a district court ruling upholding FWS' designation of critical habitat for the endangered jaguar. Ranching groups challenged the designation because it did not comport with the ESA's requirement that such areas be "essential for the conservation of the species...

A district court dismissed a challenge to FWS' development of guidelines implementing its species status assessments (SSA) program under the ESA. An environmental group argued that the Service failed to provide public notice and an opportunity for comment on the guidelines, thus depriving the group ...

A district court dismissed for lack of standing a challenge to FWS' decision to delist the threatened Louisiana black bear under the ESA. Individuals and nonprofit groups challenged the Service's conclusions in its decision that the bear was recovered and no longer met the definition of a threatened...

A district court held that FWS must reconsider its approval of a proposed open-pit copper mine in the Coronado National Forest. An environmental group argued the agency improperly used a heightened standard of review when it determined the mine was unlikely to result in destruction or adverse modifi...

A district court held that FWS' decision to list the northern long-eared bat as threatened rather than endangered under the ESA was arbitrary and capricious. Environmental groups argued that the rationale FWS relied on to reach its decision—that the species had not yet suffered declines and appear...