The Tenth Circuit held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was not required to consult with FWS about alternative water management policies in the Rio Grande River that would help protect the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher and the Rio Grande silvery minnow. An environmental group argued...

The Fifth Circuit vacated FWS' 2016 decision denying a petition to delist the golden-cheeked warbler, which was listed as an endangered species under the ESA in 1990. Texas' General Land Office argued that the decision violated NEPA because the Service failed to prepare an EIS. The court found that ...

A district court temporarily blocked a California law banning the import and sale of alligator and crocodile products. The court noted, however, that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife can continue to enforce laws that bar the importation of alligator and crocodile bodies and body parts ...

The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's denial of leave to file an amended complaint in a challenge to NPS' authority to prohibit commercial herring fishing in the waters of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco Bay. A fishing industry group argued that NPS did not have the...

A district court vacated exempted fishing permits issued by NMFS that allowed two vessels to engage in commercial longline fishing in federal waters off the coast of California for two years. Environmental groups contended that the permits threatened the survival and recovery of Pacific leatherback ...

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A state appellate court upheld the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission's 2015 decision to remove the gray wolf from the list of species protected under the Oregon Endangered Species Act (OESA). Environmental groups argued the Commission's conclusion that the wolf species was no longer endangered was...

A district court denied a neighborhood group's request to temporarily block bison hunting near Yellowstone National Park. The group argued that NPS and USDA violated NEPA when they authorized an annual bison hunt at a location on the edge of the park called Beattie Gulch, and sought a temporary rest...

A district court denied NMFS’ motion to stay a lawsuit concerning the effects of lobster fishing on the endangered North Atlantic right whale. The agency requested a stay pending its promulgation of two conservation measures—a new biological opinion for the American lobster fishery and a regulat...

A district court enjoined a NMFS rule that opened two areas of previously protected North Atlantic right whale habitat off the New England coast to gillnet fishing. An environmental group argued that the Sustainable Fisheries Division (SFD) of NMFS failed to consult with the agency’s Protected Res...