D.C. Circuit – Page 7

The gray wolf once roamed in large numbers across the contiguous forty-eight States. But by the 1960s, hunting, depredation, and habitat loss drove the gray wolf to the brink of extinction, and the federal government declared the gray wolf an endangered species. After a portion of the gray wolf population rebounded, the government promulgated the rule at issue here, which removes from federal protection a sub-population of gray wolves inhabiting all or portions of nine states in the Western Great Lakes region of the United States. The Humane Society of the United States challenges that rule as a violation of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (“Act”), 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq., and the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. § 551 et seq. Because the government failed to reasonably analyze or consider two significant aspects of the rule—the impacts of partial delisting and of historical range loss on the already listed species—we affirm the judgment of the district court vacating the 2011 Rule.

Lower court decision here.

Split D.C. Circuit Rejects Challenge to Keepseagle Settlement Modification

May 16, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the materials in Keepseagle v. Perdue:

D.C. Circuit Rules in Tuttle v. Zinke — Upholds Interior Termination of Lease on CRIT Lands

April 19, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the order:

Unpublished Order

Briefs here.

D.C. Circuit Briefs in Amador County v. Dept. of Interior

April 17, 2017May 25, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here:

Amador County Opening Brief

DOI Answer Brief

Lower court materials in Amador County v. Jewell (D.D.C.):

76-1 Amador County Motion

77 US Motion

81 Amador County Response

83 US Reply

84 DCT Order

Navajo Nation Prevails in D.C. Circuit over 2014 Annual Funding Agreement Dispute

April 4, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Navajo Nation v. Dept. of Interior:

Opinion

An excerpt:

The Navajo Nation delivered a proposed funding agreement to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, an agency within the United States Department of the Interior, during a partial government shutdown. By law, the BIA had 90 days after receipt to act on the proposal or it would be deemed approved. The BIA did not consider the proposal “received” until normal government operations later resumed, and issued a partial declination 90 days after that date. The Nation filed an action to enforce the proposal, contending that the BIA’s declination was untimely. The district court granted summary judgment to the DOI, holding that because the Nation had remained silent when the BIA indicated its position on the deadline, the Nation was equitably estopped from asserting an earlier one. The Nation brought the present appeal. We reverse the judgment.

Briefs here.

Lower court materials here.