The Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded FWS' biological opinion for a pipeline project involving the construction, operation, and maintenance of a 678-mile, 42-inch-diameter natural gas pipeline extending from Wyoming to Oregon. The right-of-way for the pipeline encompasses approximately 2,291 acres ...

The D.C. Circuit held that FWS did not violate the ESA by removing the West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel from the list of endangered species even though several criteria in the agency's recovery plan for the species had not been satisfied. The FWS Secretary reasonably interpreted the ESA as not...

The Ninth Circuit upheld FWS regulations issued under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) that authorize the incidental take of polar bears and Pacific walruses resulting from oil and gas exploration activities in the Chukchi Sea and on the adjacent coast of Alaska. MMPA §101(a)(5)(A) requires ...

The First Circuit upheld an individual's conviction for illegally trafficking in sperm whale teeth and narwhal tusks in violation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). The individual argued that the lower court should have instructed the jury...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part a lower court decision dismissing an environmental group's lawsuit challenging the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's annual operating plans for the Glen Canyon Dam along the Colorado River under NEPA, the ESA, and the APA. The group was concerned about the dam's impact ...

The Ninth Circuit held that the Bureau of Reclamation did not violate the ESA when it renewed 41 water service contracts in California despite concerns over the endangered delta smelt. Conservation groups argued that the Bureau renewed the contracts without conducting an adequate consultation under ...

A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision denying a petition to vacate the state wildlife board's decision to pay $9.98 million from the California Habitat Conservation Fund to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the Battle Creek Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Project. The pe...

The Ninth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service violated the ESA when it failed to consult with federal wildlife agencies before approving four notices of intent (NOIs) to conduct mining activities in coho salmon critical habitat within the Klamath National Forest. The ...

A district court held that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE) did not violate NEPA or the ESA when it accepted over 300 bids for oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon disaster. An environmental group argued that the ag...

The Eleventh Circuit upheld FWS' decision denying environmental groups' petitions to designate critical habitat for the Florida panther under the ESA. The Secretary of the Interior listed the Florida panther as an endangered species in 1967—more than a decade before the 1978 amendments required a ...