Environmental Law

District Court in Florida rejects Tribe's equal protection claims, upholds water management decisions as rational effort to protect Cape Sable seaside sparrows and comply with Endangered Species Act

Posted on July 14, 2010
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida v. United States, No. 08-23001-CIV, 2010 WL 2730095 (S.D. Fla., July 12, 2010)(K. Michael Moore, District Judge) INTRODUCTION.  Federally-recognized Indian tribe claimed that certain water management actions ...

District Court case law round up: attempts to abuse ESA injunctions in Hawaii, timber effects on grizzly bears in Montana, and the importance of informal consultation in Washington, D.C.

Posted on July 12, 2010
Three days, three cases... Seto and Friends of He ‘eia State Park et. al. v. Thielen, Civil No. 10-00351 SOM-BMK, 2010 WL 2612603 (D.Hawai'i, June 28, 2010)(Susan Oki Mollway, District Judge). Plaintiff Friends of He ‘eia State Park is a disgruntled ...

Federal Register round-up on overlooked ESA announcements

Posted on July 12, 2010
An update on some overlooked Federal Register announcements and caselaw.  Among them: NOAA announcements on a petition for coho salmon and status review for steller sea lions; and FWS announcements on listing of mountain plover, critical habitat ...

On appeal, 10th Circuit upholds FWS decisions related to reintroduction of Northern Aplomado Falcon in New Mexico

Posted on July 10, 2010
Forest Guardians v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Case No. 08-2226, --- F.3d ----, 2010 WL 2674990 (10th Cir., July 7, 2010)(Gorsuch, McKay and Holmes, Circuit Judges). SUMMARY: On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New ...

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Populations of Humpback Chub go up, but FWS goes down: Federal Judge remands another FWS BiOp on the Glen Canyon Dam for ESA violations.

Posted on July 09, 2010
Grand Canyon Trust v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Case No. CV-07-8164-PHX-DGC, 2010 WL 2643537 (D.Ariz. June 29, 2010)(David G. Cambell, District Judge). SUMMARY: This case concerns the operation of Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River by the United ...

New wildlife issues surfacing in Gulf, environmental advocates resist wind energy, and Endangered Species Act challenges mount, nationwide.

Posted on July 05, 2010
Deepwater Horizon was not “reasonably likely to occur.”  ESA blawg readers already knew, as a legal matter, that FWS must have reached that conclusion when it allowed the project to move forward.  See prior ESA blawg and Wired News...

U.S Court of Federal Claims rejects (again) the unripe takings claims of wanna-be developer who lacked an ITP

Posted on July 05, 2010
Schooner Harbor Ventures, Inc. v. U.S., 92 Fed.Cl. 373 (April 10, 2010). BACKGROUND: The Mississippi Sandhill Crane was designated an endangered species FN1 in 1973. In 1975, the United States Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) ...

FWS lists two Hawaiian damselflies and four Southwest fish, but without critical habitat.

Posted on July 05, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 35990 / Vol. 75, No. 121 / Thursday, June 24, 2010 / Rules and Regulations DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR / Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 / Docket No. FWS-R1-ES-2009-0036 / MO 92210-0-0008 / RIN 1018-AV47 Endangered and Threatened ...

FWS proposes critical habitat for four New Mexico wetland species and Missouri snail

Posted on July 05, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 35375 / Vol. 75, No. 119 / Tuesday, June 22, 2010 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR / Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 / Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2009-0014 / 92210-1117-0000-B4 / RIN 1018-AW50 Endangered and Threatened ...

FWS rejects petition to list wolves in Northeast, proposes downlisting of Tulotoma Snail, considers least chub future listing candidate

Posted on June 23, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 32869 / Vol. 75, No. 111 / Thursday, June 10, 2010 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR / Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 / Docket No. FWS–R5–ES–2010–0032 / 92220–1111–0000–C5 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; ...

ESA in the news: HCP overshadowed by Pacific politics, Caribbean crimes, Gulf of Mexico oil disaster and Southeast's increasing ESA sophistication

Posted on May 13, 2010
Earlier this week, wildlife officials from Nevada and the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service proudly culminated 12 years of work with the signing of the Section 10 permits for the Southeastern Lincoln County Habitat Conservation Plan.  See the Lincoln ...

NOAA proposes to list largetooth sawfish as endangered, but no critical habitat designation anticipated.

Posted on May 08, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 25174 / Vol. 75, No. 88 / Friday, May 7, 2010 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 224 / Docket No 0906221082–0122–02 / RIN 0648–XQ03 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife ...

Judge ignores the sound and fury of the briefs: simple failure to consider the salmon recovery plan leads to a remand of Washington State water quality regulations

Posted on May 08, 2010
Wild Fish Conservancy v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, No. C08-0156-JCC, 2010 WL 1734850 (W.D. Wash, April 28, 2010)(Judge Coughenour). BACKGROUND: Plaintiff filed this lawsuit in January 2008, arguing that the Environmental Protection Agency ...

FWS may list Hermes Copper Butterfly, notices conservation assessment on mexican wolf, and extends public comment on polar bear critical habitat

Posted on May 08, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 23654 / Vol. 75, No. 85 / Tuesday, May 4, 2010 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR / Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 / Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2010-0031 / MO 92210-0-0008-B2 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; ...

Wetland protection by ESA listing petition: CBD seeks to list 404 species in Southeastern USA.

Posted on May 03, 2010
The Center for Biological Diversity outdid itself.  Last month, CBD filed with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service a Petition to List 404 Aquatic, Riparian and Wetland Species from the Southeastern United States as Threatened or Endangered Under the ...

NOAA lists three distinct population segments of rockfish

Posted on May 03, 2010
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-9847.pdf DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE / National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Parts 223 and 224 / Docket No. 080229341–0108–03 / RIN 0648–XF89 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: ...

FWS responds to petitions, may list Mohave Ground Squirrel and Harlequin Butterfly; also issues errata on Mountain whitefish

Posted on April 29, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 22063 / Vol. 75, No. 80 / Tuesday, April 27, 2010 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR / Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 / FWS-R8-ES-2010-0006 / MO 92210-0-0008 B2 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90–day ...

Final FWS decisions: Critical Habitat for Hine?s Emerald Dragonfly, Listing Not Warranted for Susan?s Purse-making Caddisfly

Posted on April 29, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 21394 / Vol. 75, No. 78 / Friday, April 23, 2010 / Rules and Regulations DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR / Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 / Docket No. FWS–R3–ES–2009–0017 / MO 92210–0–0009–B4 / RIN 1018–AW47 Endangered and Threatened ...

FWS says listing of Wyoming pocket gopher not warranted

Posted on April 21, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 19592 / Vol. 75, No. 72 / Thursday, April 15, 2010 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR / Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 / Docket No. FWS-R6-ES-2008-0127 / MO 92210-0-0008-B2 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; ...

3 more status reviews for FWS on the fisher, wolverine, and sacramento splittail

Posted on April 21, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 20547 / Vol. 75, No. 75 / Tuesday, April 20, 2010 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR / Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 / Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2010-0013 / MO 92210-0-0008-B2 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; ...

ESA news: federal family reaches sage grouse deal; scientists reject federal plans for salmon barging; CBD, WildEarth and PLF continue Tribal traditions

Posted on April 13, 2010
Last month, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced that the greater sage-grouse warranted protection of the Endangered Species Act, but that a listing was precluded by higher priority species needs.  Environmentalists promptly declared ....

5th Circuit stays focused, defers to FWS analysis of proposed rail effects on warblers and invertebrates

Posted on April 12, 2010
Medina County Environmental Action Association v. Surface Transportation Board, Case No. 09-60108 (5th. Cir., April 6, 2010) ISSUE: Medina County Environmental Action Association (MCEAA) challenged an exemption given by the Surface Transportation Board ...

One week, one hundred species: catching up on recent FWS and NOAA announcements.

Posted on April 12, 2010
Sometimes, we all need to take a step back.   And when I did, last week, I was amazed by the volume of recent announcements in the Federal Register related to ESA implementation.  Interests groups may not agree with the decisions made by the U...

In the news: economic consequences of the Endangered Species Act in the western USA.

Posted on April 04, 2010
This week offered many examples, especially from the western United States, of the continued tension between the values of the Endangered Species Act, and its raw economic consequences. Conservationists intend to sue the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service ...

NOAA considering delisting of San Francisco Bay Area coho salmon, and listing of bumphead parrotfish

Posted on April 02, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 16745 / Vol. 75, No. 63 / Friday, April 2, 2010 / Notices DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Docket No. 00323162–0165–01 / RIN 0648–XV30 Endangered and Threatened Species; 90–Day Finding on a Petition ...

FWS proposes revised critical habitat for Lane Mountain milk-vetch

Posted on April 01, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 16404 / Vol. 75, No. 62 / Thursday, April 1, 2010 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 / Docket No. FWS-R8-ES-2009-0078 / MO 99210-0-0009-B4 /  RIN 1018-AW53 Endangered and Threatened ...

Noting funding limits, FWS says threatened listing warranted but precluded for Tucson shovel-nosed snake; also extends comment on Casey's June Beetle

Posted on March 31, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 16050 / Vol. 75, No. 61 / Wednesday, March 31, 2010 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 / Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2009-0070 / MO 92210-0-0008-B2 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; ...

Federal courts publish recent opinions on Mexican spotted owls and grizzly bears

Posted on March 30, 2010
In this electronic era, I find it frustrating that Westlaw and Lexis cannot identify these cases sooner; nevertheless, here are two published cases finally uncovered by my preset searches... *** In Precision Pine & Timber v. U.S., 596 F.3d 817 ...

NOAA considering Endangered Species Act protections for 82 coral species

Posted on February 11, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 6616 / Vol. 75, No. 27 / Wednesday, February 10, 2010 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Parts 223 and 224 Docket No. 0911231415–0052–01 / RIN 0648–XT12 Endangered and Threatened ...

FWS declines to list American pika, but proposes experimental population of Sonoran Proghorn

Posted on February 11, 2010
75 Fed. Reg. 6438 / Vol. 75, No. 26 / Tuesday, February 9, 2010 / Proposed Rules DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR / Fish and Wildlife Service 50 CFR Part 17 / FWS-R6-ES-2009-0021 / MO 92210-0-0010 Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-month ...

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