The Tenth Circuit reversed and remanded a district court ruling upholding FWS' designation of critical habitat for the endangered jaguar. Ranching groups challenged the designation because it did not comport with the ESA's requirement that such areas be "essential for the conservation of the species...

A district court held invalid an amendment to the city of Toledo's charter that gave legal rights to Lake Erie. A local family farm argued the amendment was unconstitutionally vague and thus that it should be invalidated. The court found that the environmental rights of the lake and its watershed to...

The Fourth Circuit upheld a district court order that remanded to state court the city of Baltimore's climate change case against oil companies. The city alleged it sustained climate change-related injuries, including an increase in sea levels, storms, floods, heatwaves, droughts, and extreme precip...

The D.C. Circuit dismissed as untimely Maryland's petition to review the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) approval of new flight paths to Washington National Airport. The state argued the new flight paths, which concentrated aircraft noise over its public lands, should be vacated because th...

A district court dismissed a challenge to FWS' development of guidelines implementing its species status assessments (SSA) program under the ESA. An environmental group argued that the Service failed to provide public notice and an opportunity for comment on the guidelines, thus depriving the group ...

A district court dismissed for lack of standing a challenge to FWS' decision to delist the threatened Louisiana black bear under the ESA. Individuals and nonprofit groups challenged the Service's conclusions in its decision that the bear was recovered and no longer met the definition of a threatened...