In a recent opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed in part the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California’s grant of summary judgment to the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) in Friends of the River v. NMFS, No. 18-15623 (9th Cir. Oct. 3, 2019). Plaintiff Friends … Continue Reading
On September 26, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado vacated and remanded in part the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) 2014 determination that listing the Rio Grande cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki virginalis) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was not warranted. The Rio Grande cutthroat trout is native to high-altitude … Continue Reading
Yes, if the animal is designated as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). In a recent federal court decision out of Massachusetts, a United States District Court was called on to decide whether a local zoo’s treatment of two endangered Asian elephants amounted to “harm” or “harassment” in violation of the … Continue Reading
On August 6, 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a 90-day finding that listing the Yellowstone Park bison (Bison bison bison) under the Endangered Species Act is not warranted. FWS also found that listing the Mojave poppy bee (Perdita meconis) and revising the critical habitat designation for the endangered Mount Graham red … Continue Reading
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and a group of landowners recently settled long-running litigation regarding the Service’s designation of approximately 1,500 acres of private land as critical habitat for the dusky gopher frog (Rana sevosa). The Service designated the private land in Louisiana as critical habitat in 2012. Weyerhaeuser Co. and local landowners … Continue Reading
On May 3, 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) published a proposed rule to downlist the American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) from endangered to threatened. The Service also proposed a rule under section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) to allow many routine activities to occur within the range of the species, even if they … Continue Reading
On April 23, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that environmental groups have standing to challenge the federal government’s killing of gray wolves in Idaho without conducting additional analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). Western Watersheds Project et al. v. Grimm, No. 18-35075 (9th Cir. 2019). Environmental groups brought an … Continue Reading
On March 28, 2019, a federal judge overturned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (“USFWS”) rejection of a petition to delist an endangered karst invertebrate species, the Bone Cave harvestman (Texella reyeisi) (“BCH”), which is known to occur only in central Texas. American Stewards of Liberty and others (“Plaintiffs”) had claimed that USFWS’ rejection of … Continue Reading
On March 27, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral argument in Kisor v. Wilkie (No. 18-15), focusing on whether Auer deference should be overruled. While the dispute is not environmental in nature, this case has nonetheless attracted significant attention from the environmental community due to the potentially significant implications to environmental litigation. Auer deference (or Seminole Rock deference) requires … Continue Reading
