The Ninth Circuit held that California's commercial fishing fees for nonresidents violates the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the U.S. Constitution. California's commercial fishing license fees are significantly higher for out-of-state fishers than for residents. For example, California residen...

A district court upheld FWS' decision to terminate the southern sea otter translocation program off the coast of California. Due to the threatened species' vulnerability to extinction from oil spills, environmental contamination, disease, shooting, and entanglement in fishing gear, FWS began the tra...

The Fifth Circuit reversed an oil company's convictions for violating the CAA and Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in connection with its wastewater treatment system at its Corpus Christi refinery. The company was convicted for knowingly operating two uncovered tanks as oil-water separators without ...

A district court vacated an FWS rule listing the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species under the ESA. ESA §4(b) requires FWS to take into account conservation efforts being made by any state before making a listing decision. In 2003, to encourage the development of conservation agreements ...