Western Watersheds Project v. Bernhardt
A district court denied a motion to preliminarily enjoin grizzly bear killings in connection with a 2019 biological opinion and incidental take statement issued by FWS that allow for their lethal removal in Bridger-Teton National Forest as a result of conflict with livestock. Conservation groups arg...
Oregon-California Trails Ass'n v. Walsh
A district court vacated an incidental take permit issued by FWS for a transmission line project on a historic section of the Oregon and California Trail in Nebraska. Companies and conservation groups argued that FWS' decision to issue the permit, which allowed for the incidental taking of American ...
Friends of Animals v. Bernhardt
The D.C. Circuit upheld FWS' withdrawal of prior findings for elephant trophy hunting in southern Africa. Conservation groups argued that FWS violated the APA by withdrawing its prior findings without providing notice and comment. The court found that a notice-and-comment period was not required for...
Yurok Tribe v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
A district court denied a Native American tribe's request to lift a stay in a lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation seeking to protect endangered coho salmon from the impacts of an irrigation project in the Klamath River Basin. The tribe asserted that the Bureau failed to comply with the terms o...
Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court's dismissal of a suit challenging an automobile company's use of diesel-cheat devices to evade compliance with federally mandated emission standards. Two counties argued the company's installation of and modification to the dev...
American Stewards of Liberty v. Department of Interior
The Fifth Circuit dismissed a challenge to FWS' constitutional authority to regulate activities affecting the Bone Cave harvestman, a small arachnid known to live only in caves in central Texas that is currently listed as endangered under the ESA. A county and an individual, intervening plaintiffs i...