The court affirms a district court dismissal of a commercial fisherman association's challenge to a fishery management plan (FMP) regulation, known as Framework 25, that instituted year-round closure of a fishing area and required rolling closures of inshore ports along the Gulf of Maine. The New En...

The court holds that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Buckhannon Board & Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Department of Health & Human Resources, 532 U.S. 598 (2001), did not prohibit the use of the catalyst test as a basis for awarding attorney fees and costs under the Endangered Specie...

The court holds that the Secretary of Commerce's adoption of a fishery conservation amendment to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan does not violate the Magnuson Act or the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The amendment sets annual allowable catch targets for regulated species, orch...

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service policy of leaving game "baiting" regulation in the National Forest System to the states complies with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The court first holds that the adoption of the new policy is not a maj...

The court holds that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) did not violate Endangered Species Act (ESA) §4(b)(3)(A) when it relied on its 1997 listing priority guidance and failed to make a preliminary 90-day finding on a petition to list the Columbian sharp-tail grouse as endangered. In respons...

The court holds that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) satisfied their Endangered Species Act (ESA) obligations concerning possible adverse affects of an emergency housing project on endangered and threatened turtle and snake species. The cou...

The court holds that it lacks jurisdiction over a building association's appeal of a decision upholding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS') listing of four species of fairy shrimp as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The district court granted partial summary judgmen...

The court holds that environmental organizations have standing to assert an Endangered Species Act (ESA) §9 claim against a lumber company whose timber harvesting operations are allegedly causing the take of coho salmon. The court first holds that the organizations have satisfied each of the elemen...

The court affirms a district court order lifting a temporary restraining order and denying environmental groups' motion to permanently enjoin the construction of a new school on property that allegedly contains potential habitat for the endangered cactus ferruginous pygmy owl. The court first holds ...

The court holds that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS') petition management guidance policy violated the plain terms of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and that the Secretary of the Interior improperly relied on the policy when she refused to issue 12-month findings in response to the grou...