Environmental Law

It ain't over 'til it's over, but Federal Judge in Texas says "it's over," calls San Antonio transmission line challenge moot.

Posted on April 21, 2008
Aquifer Guardians v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Civil Action Nos. SA-06-CA-1121-XR, SA-07-CA-0582-XR. 2008 WL 972661 (W.D.Tex. April 8, 2008). INTRODUCTION (Excerpt from opinion) This case arises from the issuance of a June 23, 2006 ...

Court declines to second-guess NOAA actions related to Puget Sound Chinook

Posted on April 21, 2008
Salmon Spawning & Recovery Alliance v. Lohn, No. C06-1462RSL, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30809 (W.D.Wash., March 20, 2008) Introduction (excerpted verbatim from opinion) This case concerns a challenge to two decisions by National Marine Fisheries ...

18 southwestern species under review by FWS

Posted on April 16, 2008
73 Federal Register 20702 (Wednesday, April 16, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 5-Year Status Review of 18 Southeastern Species; Notice) SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and ...

FWS proposes critical habitat revisions for San Barnadino kangaroo rat

Posted on April 16, 2008
73 Federal Register 20581 (Wednesday, April 16, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revised Designation of Critical Habitat for the San Bernardino Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys merriami ...

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FWS proposes critical habitat for California plant species

Posted on April 16, 2008
73 Federal Register 20600 (Wednesday, April 16, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for Poa atropurpurea (San Bernardino bluegrass) and Taraxacum ...

FWS reopens comment period related to Bay checkerspot butterfly critical habitat

Posted on April 15, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 20237 (Tuesday, April 15, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas editha bayensis); Proposed ...

Religious Views Fail to Avoid ESA Prosecution in Northern California

Posted on April 14, 2008
United States of America v. Moses Adeyemo, No. CR 03-40220 MJJ, 2008 WL 928546 (N.D. Cal. April 4, 2008). Moses Adeyemo, a Nigerian, moved to dismiss an indictment for violations of the Endangered Species Act based upon the Religious Freedom ...

Federal Judge Upholds Listing of the Lower Columbia River Coho Salmon

Posted on April 14, 2008
Jack Marincovich v. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Civil No. 07-6228-Ho, 2008 U.S. Dist. Lexis 26560  (D.Ore. March 31, 2008) Plaintiffs allege damage and continuing harm as a result of the listing of the Lower Columbia River Coho salmon ESU, as ...

Federal Judge in Minnesota Directs Agency to Cease Unauthorized Incidental Take of the Canada Lynx

Posted on April 14, 2008
Animal Protection Institute and Center For Biological Diversity vs. Mark Holsten, Civil No. 06-3776 (MJD/RLE) (D. Minnesota, March 28, 2008). Plaintiffs allege that Holsten, in his official capacity as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of ...

NOAA elects not to list Lynn Canal Pacific Herring, But Undertakes Status Review of Pacific Herring As A Whole

Posted on April 14, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 19824 (Friday, April 11, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Endangered and Threatened Species; Notice of Finding on a Petition to List the Lynn Canal Population of Pacific Herring as a ...

Charlotte County, FL Resident Submits Incidental Take Permit Application for Scrub Jays

Posted on April 14, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 19525 (Thursday, April 10, 2008)(DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; Fish and Wildlife Service; Receipt of an Application for an Incidental Take Permit for Residential Construction in Charlotte County, FL) SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife ...

Like the millions of unnamed species, the unpublished case law is out there...

Posted on April 08, 2008
Through the Endangered Species Act, Congress empowered citizens to act as private attorney generals, and to bring suits against the government.  For better, or for worse, this policy decision has turned the federal judiciary into a critical area ...

11th Circuit rules against FEMA and FWS in historic case; development in key deer habitat remains enjoined

Posted on April 01, 2008
Florida Key Deer and National Wildlife Federation v. Paulison, No. 05-16374 (11th Cir., April 1, 2008) available online. In an opinion released today, the 11th Circuit upheld a U.S. District Court ruling, finding that the Federal Emergency Management ...

NOAA considering listing of ribbon seal, and initiating status reviews of other Alaskan seal species

Posted on April 01, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 16617 (Friday, March 28, 2008)(Department of Commerce; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; Notice of a 90–day petition finding; request for information; and initiation of status reviews of ...

FWS announces critical habitat for Pecos Sunflower

Posted on April 01, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 17762 (Tuesday, April 1, 2008)(Department of Interior; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for Helianthus Paradoxus (Pecos Sunflower); Final Rule SUMMARY: We, ...

Learning to blawg...

Posted on March 26, 2008
Sorry, loyal readers.  This post is for the search engines.  I need more fans like you, so I'm registering with various web / blog services, like Technorati. Technorati ...

Polar Bear Predictions in the Villanova Environmental Law Journal

Posted on March 25, 2008
Laura Navarro, Comment. What About the Polar Bears? The Future of the Polar Bears as Predicted by a Survey of Success Under the Endangered Species Act, 19 Vill. Envtl. L.J. 169 (2008). In this law review comment, the author discusses the proposed ...

Wood storks as ecological indicators

Posted on March 24, 2008
Although an endangered species, wood storks can still be spotted with regularity by knowledgeable South Floridians.  A white feathered bird with black accents, a scaly unfeathered neck and head, and pinkish toes, the wood stork has an extensive ...

Climate Change and ESA in new law review article

Posted on March 21, 2008
In the February 2008 issue of Boston University Law Review, Professor J.B. Ruhl at Florida State University published yet another article on the Endangered Species Act, CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT: BUILDING BRIDGES TO THE NO-ANALOG ...

FWS considering listing of the coaster brook trout in Great Lakes region

Posted on March 20, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 14,950 (March 20, 2008 ) (Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding on a Petition To List the U.S. Population of Coaster Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) as ...

FWS announces 5 year reviews for 28 listed southwestern species.

Posted on March 20, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 14,995 (March 20, 2008)(Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 5-Year Reviews of 28 Southwestern Species) SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce ...

D.C. federal judge invalidates FWS biop covering California sand bar breach, cites poor incidental take statement

Posted on March 18, 2008
Pacific Shores Subdivision California Water District v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Civil Action 04-02091 (HHK), 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20164 (D.D.C. Mar. 17, 2008) Henry H. Kennedy, Jr., United States District Judge. ISSUE: Plaintiffs bring this ...

NMFS evaluating need to list five species of rockfish

Posted on March 17, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 14195 (Mar. 17, 2008)( NOAA Fisheries; Listing Endangered and Threatened Species and Designating Critical Habitat: Notice of Finding on a Petition to List Five Rockfish Species in Puget Sound (Washington) as Endangered or Threatened Species ...

Will FWS get tied up in red knots? Horseshoe crab lovers hope so.

Posted on March 16, 2008
On an annual migration, the red knot flies from the Arctic to the southern tip of South America -- by way of Delaware.  But the red knot may be growing weary of its long travels, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has already identified the ...

Should NOAA list the Pacific eulachon?

Posted on March 12, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 13185 (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Listing Endangered and Threatened Species: Notification of Finding on a Petition to List Pacific Eulachon as an Endangered or Threatened Species under the Endangered ...

FWS finds petition to list wolverine in continuous 48 states "not warranted"

Posted on March 11, 2008
73 Fed. Reg. 12929 (Tuesday, March 11, 2008)(Fish & Wildlife Service; Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding on a Petition To List the North American Wolverine as Endangered or Threatened) SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and ...

Desert bald eagles "relisted" as threatened by U.S. District Court Judge in Arizona

Posted on March 10, 2008
Center for Biological Diversity v. Kempthorne, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17517, No. CV 07-0038-PHX-MHM (D.Az., Mar. 5, 2008) BACKGROUND: In 2004, CBD submitted a petition to list a desert population of bald eagles as a “distinct population segment...

Upon further review, court upholds FWS decision not to list the Florida black bear.

Posted on March 10, 2008
Defenders of Wildlife v. Kempthorne, 2008 WL 590865 (D.D.C., Mar. 5, 2008) BACKGROUND: In 1998, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service found that the Florida black bear did not warrant ESA listing.  63 Fed. Reg. 67613 (Dec. 8, 1998).  However, a ...

Regulation of lands under Clean Water Act did not trigger special Endangered Species Act protections for listed plant

Posted on March 10, 2008
Northern California River Watch v. Wilcox, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17441, No. C 06-06685 CRB (N.D.Cal. Mar. 6, 2008) BACKGROUND: This case involved the Sebastopol meadowfoam, a plant.   With respect to plants, the Endangered Species Act, Section 9 ...

Lack of 60-day notice sinks salmon case

Posted on March 10, 2008
McCrary v. Gutierrez, 528 F.Supp.2d 995 (N.D.Cal. Dec. 6, 2007) SUMMARY: Plaintiff filed a petition with the National Marine Fisheries Service, seeking to revise the designation of a California Central Coast evolutionarily significant unit (ESU) ...

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