Akiak Native Community v. United States Postal Service
213 F.3d 1140 (9th Cir. 2000)
In this case, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to the United States Postal Service (Postal Service), dismissing the plaintiffs' claim that the Postal Service violated the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA)[1] and the National... {Continue reading}

Alaska Center for the Environment v. Armbrister
131 F.3d 1285 (9th Cir. 1997)
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration (FHA) proposed construction of a road to Whittier, Alaska to replace the twelve mile railroad that connected the town with the state's highway system. In 1995, the agencies published a combined... {Continue reading}

Alaska Wilderness Recreation & Tourism Association v. Morrison
67 F.3d 723 (9th Cir. 1995)
Cancellation in 1994 of a fifty-year timber contract dating to the 1950s released uncut timber in the TongassNational Forest in Alaska from the contract sale. After the contract was cancelled, the U.S. Forest Service offered the uncut released timber on... {Continue reading}

American Rivers v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
201 F.3d 1186 (9th Cir. 2000)
Conservation groups, the United States Department of Interior, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (collectively, petitioners) challenged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) relicensing of two dams operated by the Eugene (Oregon) Water and Electric Board (EWEB). The... {Continue reading}

Anderson v. Evans
371 F.3d 475 (9th Cir. 2004)
Multiple animal advocacy groups and several citizens challenged the federal government's approval of a whaling quota for the Makah Indian Tribe (the Tribe), claiming violations of both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)[1] and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).[2]... {Continue reading}

Anderson v. Evans
314 F.3d 1006 (9th Cir. 2002)
Numerous animal conservation groups and citizens appealed the district court's summary judgment decision in favor of the United States Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and the Makah Indian Tribe. The... {Continue reading}

Apache Survival Coalition v. United States
118 F.3d 663 (9th Cir. 1997)
The Apache Survival Coalition (Coalition) appealed the district court's denial of a preliminary injunction against further construction of the Mount Graham International Observatory (observatory) on top of Mt. Graham in southeastern Arizona. The Coalition argued that the U.S. Forest Service... {Continue reading}

Ashley Creek Phosphate Co. v. Norton
420 F.3d 934 (9th Cir. 2005)
Ashley Creek Phosphate Co. (Ashley Creek) appealed a district court's dismissal for lack of standing in its suit against Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton. Ashley Creek brought the claim under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), [1] alleging that the... {Continue reading}

Association of Public Agency Customers v. Bonneville Power Administration
126 F.3d 1158 (9th Cir. 1997)
Various industrial and environmental groups petitioned for review of decisions by Bonneville Power Administration to adopt a market driven business plan, execute power sale contracts with direct service industrial customers (DSIs), and extend transmission agreements to those customers. DSIs... {Continue reading}

Bell v. Bonneville Power Administration
340 F.3d 945 (9th Cir. 2003)
The Utility Reform Project and three of its members (collectively Bell) petitioned for Ninth Circuit review of amendments to power sale contracts between Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and several direct service industries (DSIs). The Ninth Circuit denied Bell's petitions for... {Continue reading}

Bicycle Trails Council of Marin v. Babbitt
82 F.3d 1445 (9th Cir. 1996)
Bicycle Trails Council of Marin and several other nonprofit corporations representing cyclists' interests challenged National Park Service (NPS) regulations governing bicycle use on Park Service lands.[1] In the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), the new regulations resulted in a... {Continue reading}

California Trout v. Schaefer
58 F.3d 469 (9th Cir. 1995)
California Trout (CalTrout), an environmental group, brought suit challenging the decision of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to grant a Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 permit sought by the Stockton East Water District (SEWD) to discharge fill... {Continue reading}

California v. Norton
311 F.3d 1162 (9th Cir. 2002)
The United States, as represented by several officers and agencies, and intervening offshore oil lessees, appealed a district court's summary judgment decision. The district court had ruled in favor of the State of California, represented by officers and agencies, ten... {Continue reading}

Cantrell v. City of Long Beach
241 F.3d 674 (9th Cir. 2001)
Several individuals (the birdwatchers) challenged the Navy and the City of Long Beach's decision to reuse the closed Long Beach Naval Station as a commercial marine container terminal. The birdwatchers alleged that the Navy's final environmental impact statement (EIS) was... {Continue reading}

Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Forest Service
349 F.3d 1157 (9th Cir. 2003)
The Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club (collectively the Center) alleged that the final environmental impact statement (EIS) of the United States Forest Service (USFS) was in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)[1] and NEPA's implementing... {Continue reading}

Churchill County v. Norton
276 F.3d 1060 (9th Cir. 2001), amended by 282 F.3d 1055 (9th Cir. 2002)
The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) concerning its implementation of section 206(a) of the Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Rights Settlement Act (Settlement Act).[1] As mandated under section 206(a) of the Settlement Act, FWS developed... {Continue reading}

Citizens for Better Forestry v. United States Department of Agriculture
341 F.3d 961 (9th Cir. 2003)
Citizens for Better Forestry and eleven other environmental organizations (collectively environmental groups) sued the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Forest Service (collectively USDA) alleging procedural violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)[1] and the Endangered... {Continue reading}

City of Carmel-by-the-Sea v. United States Dept. of Transportation
95 F.3d 892 (9th Cir. 1996), withdrawn,--F.3d--, No. 94-16234, 1997 WL 470105 (9th Cir. Aug. 19, 1997)
The U.S. Department of Transportation (Department) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) proposed a project to relieve the traffic congestion on California State Highway 1. The project proposed to realign the highway system through HattonCanyon to the city of... {Continue reading}

Cold Mountain v. Garber
375 F.3d 884 (9th Cir. 2004)
Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers, Inc., Buffalo Field Campaign, and Ecology Center (collectively Cold Mountain) appealed a district court decision granting summary judgment to the United States Forest Service (USFS). Cold Mountain challenged a biological assessment by USFS, which reached a... {Continue reading}

Douglas County v. Babbitt
48 F.3d 1495 (9th Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 116 S. Ct. 698 (1996)
The U.S. Secretary of Interior (Secretary) listed the northern spotted owl as a threatened species in 1988 and has since been ordered to designate critical habitat for the owl.[1] In publishing an initial critical habitat proposal, the Secretary stated that... {Continue reading}

Earth Island Institute. v. U.S. Forest Service
442 F.3d 1147 (9th Cir. 2006)
Non-profit environmental organizations Earth Island Institute and the Center for Biological Diversity (Earth Island) appealed the district court's denial of their motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin the United States Forest Service (USFS) from implementing two post-fire logging projects... {Continue reading}

Ecology Center, Inc. v. Austin
430 F.3d 1057 (9th Cir. 2005)
Environmental organization Ecology Center, Inc. (Ecology Center) filed suit against Deborah Austin, Forest Supervisor for the Lolo National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service, and other government entities (Forest Service) over the Forest Service's Lolo National Forest Post Burn Project (Lolo... {Continue reading}

Edwardsen v. United States Department of the Interior
268 F.3d 781 (9th Cir. 2001)
Six Inupiat Eskimos and Greenpeace, Inc. sought review of the Secretary of the Interior's decision to permit oil production by BP Exploration Alaska, Inc. (BPXA) in the Beaufort Sea off the Alaska coast. The petitioners challenged the adequacy of a... {Continue reading}

Environmental Coalition of Ojai v. Brown
72 F.3d 1411 (9th Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 116 S. Ct. 2500 (1996)
As a part of a nationwide weather forecasting modernization project, in 1993 the Government began building a Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) on SulpherMountain in Ojai, California. Shortly thereafter, the Environmental Coalition (ECO) and others filed suit seeking a declaration... {Continue reading}

Forest Guardians v. Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service
309 F.3d 1141 (9th Cir. 2002)
Forest Guardians and a coalition of conservation groups (collectively Forest Guardians) sought to enjoin the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the United States Forest Service (USFS) from killing mountain lions (Felis concolor) to protect livestock in the... {Continue reading}

Forest Guardians v. United States Forest Service
329 F.3d 1089 (9th Cir. 2003)
Forest Guardians and the White Mountain Conservation League (collectively environmental groups) challenged the adoption of grazing-related allotment plans within a national forest by the United States Forest Service (USFS). Finding that USFS did not act in an arbitrary or capricious... {Continue reading}

Foundation for Horses & Other Animals v. Babbitt
154 F.3d 1103 (9th Cir. 1998)
Enacted by Congress in 1980, the Channel Islands National Park Act (CINPA)[1] directs the Secretary of the Interior to acquire parcels of real property for incorporation into the Channel Islands National Park. Pursuant to CINPA, the National Park Service (NPS)... {Continue reading}

Friends of Southeast's Future v. Morrison
153 F.3d 1059 (9th Cir. 1998)
In 1991, the United States Forest Service (USFS) and the Alaska Pulp Corporation developed a timber harvest schedule for the Chatham area of the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska. The agency and the corporation entered into a long-term contract... {Continue reading}

Friends of Yosemite Valley v. Norton
348 F.3d 789 (9th Cir. 2003)
Two environmental groups, Friends of the Yosemite Valley and Mariposans for Environmentally Friendly Growth (collectively environmental groups), sued the National Park Service (NPS) for alleged deficiencies in the creation of the Merced River Wild and Scenic Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP).... {Continue reading}

Friends of the Clearwater v. Dombeck
222 F.3d 552 (9th Cir. 2000)
The Ninth Circuit refused to reverse the district court's grant of summary judgment to the United States Forest Service (Forest Service) in connection with the Forest Service's failure to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for timber sales in... {Continue reading}

Ground Zero Center for Non-Violent Action v. United States Department of the Navy
383 F.3d 1082 (9th Cir. 2004)
The Ground Zero Center for Non-Violent Action (Ground Zero) brought an action challenging the United States Department of the Navy's (Navy) Trident II missile upgrade program (backfit program) at Bangor Submarine Base (Bangor) along Hood Canal in Washington State.[1] Ground... {Continue reading}

Hale v. Norton
No. 03-36032, 2007 WL 315338 (9th Cir. 2007)
Alaska landowners (the Hales) sued for an injunction to compel the National Park Service (NPS) to allow bulldozer access, via a government road, to their inholding within the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (Park). The Hales argued the Alaska... {Continue reading}

Hells Canyon Alliance v. United States Forest Service
227 F.3d 1170 (9th Cir. 2000)
The Hells Canyon Alliance (Alliance), representing primarily motorized boaters, and the Hells Canyon Preservation Council (Council), representing non-motorized watercraft users, challenged a recreation management plan developed by the United States Forest Service for the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. The... {Continue reading}

High Sierra Hikers Association v. Blackwell
390 F.3d 630 (9th Cir. 2004)
High Sierra Hikers Association (High Sierra), a group of non-profit organizations dedicated to wilderness preservation and education, petitioned the Ninth Circuit claiming the United States Forest Service (USFS) violated provisions of the Wilderness Act[1] by issuing special use permits to... {Continue reading}

Idaho Sporting Congress v. Alexander
222 F.3d 562 (9th Cir. 2000)
The United States Forest Service (Forest Service) proposed to permit commercial logging in five areas of the Payette National Forest. The Forest Service completed environmental assessments (EAs) and issued a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for the West Pine... {Continue reading}

Idaho Sporting Congress v. Thomas
137 F.3d. 1146 (9th Cir. 1998)
This case arose out of the preparation of two timber sales in the Miners Creek and West Camas Creek watersheds of the Targhee National Forest in southeastern Idaho by the United States Forest Service (USFS or Service). USFS prepared an... {Continue reading}

Idaho Sporting Congress, Inc. v. Rittenhouse
305 F.3d 957 (9th Cir. 2002)
This case involved two authorized timber sales in the Boise National Forest: the Lightning Ridge and the Long Prong timber sales. Plaintiffs claimed that in authorizing the sales, the United States Forest Service (USFS) violated the National Forest Management Act... {Continue reading}

Inland Empire v. United States Forest Service
88 F.3d 754 (9th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, Pacific Lumber Co. v. Marbled Murrelet, 117 S.Ct. 942 (1997)
In this case the Ninth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service's population viability analysis for seven "sensitive" species in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) complied with regulations implementing the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) and the cumulative impacts analysis... {Continue reading}

Ka' Makani 'O Kohala Ohana, Inc. v. Department of Water Supply
295 F.3d 955 (9th Cir. 2002)
Ka' Makani 'O Kohala Ohana, Inc. (Ka Makani), a citizen coalition, appealed the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii's summary judgment decision dismissing Ka Makani's action against the County of Hawaii Department of Water Supply (DWS) and... {Continue reading}

Keith v. Volpe
118 F.3d 1386 (9th Cir. 1997)
Robert L. Kudler, a billboard advertising developer, appealed the district court's entry of a preliminary injunction prohibiting the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) from issuing him a permit to place billboards along the Interstate 105 freeway (I-105) in Los Angeles... {Continue reading}

Kern v. United States Bureau of Land Management
284 F.3d 1062 (9th Cir. 2002)
The plaintiffs appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment to defendant United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The plaintiffs had challenged the adequacy of an environmental impact statement (EIS) and an environmental assessment (EA) for the Coos Bay... {Continue reading}

Kettle Range Conservation Group v. United States Bureau of Land Management
150 F.3d 1083 (9th Cir. 1998)
Kettle Range Conservation Group and Inland Empire Public Lands Council (Kettle Range) sued the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the District Court of the Eastern District of Washington to prevent the agency from completing a land exchange... {Continue reading}

Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center v. Boody
468 F.3d 549 (9th Cir. 2006)
Environmental organizations Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Umpqua Watersheds, and Cascadia Wildlands Project (collectively KS Wild) brought suit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to invalidate the agency's 2001 and 2003 annual species review decisions (ASR Decisions) regarding the red... {Continue reading}

Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center v. Bureau of Land Management
387 F.3d 989 (9th Cir. 2004)
The Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS-Wild) challenged two timber sales, proposed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the Cascade Mountains of Southern Oregon, under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).[1] KS-Wild asserted that BLM's Environmental Assessment (EA) of each... {Continue reading}

Kootenai Tribe of Idaho v. Veneman
313 F.3d 1094 (9th Cir. 2002)
The Ninth Circuit reviewed two separate challenges to the adoption by the United States Forest Service (USFS) of the roadless area conservation rule (Roadless Rule). USFS developed the Roadless Rule in response to President Clinton's 1999 order to the agency... {Continue reading}

Lands Council v. Powell
395 F.3d 1019 (9th Cir. 2004)
A coalition of environmental groups (collectively Lands Council) challenged the decision by the United States Forest Service (USFS) to approve a timber harvest in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest (IPNF). The district court granted summary judgment for USFS, and Lands... {Continue reading}

Laub v. United States Department of the Interior
342 F.3d 1080 (9th Cir. 2003)
Laub, two other farmers, United States, and the California Farm Bureau Federation (collectively Plaintiffs) sued the Department of the Interior, other federal agencies and individuals in their capacities as officers of federal agencies (collectively federal defendants), and California state agencies... {Continue reading}

Marbled Murrelet v. Babbitt
111 F.3d 1447 (9th Cir. 1997)
The Ninth Circuit vacated a district court injunction shutting down logging activities in Humboldt County, California. The court held that approval of eight timber harvest plans (THPs) by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) constituted neither an... {Continue reading}

Metcalf v. Daley
214 F.3d 1135 (9th Cir. 2000)
Plaintiffs brought suit against the Secretary of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively "Federal Defendants"), alleging that they violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)[1] by approving an agreement with... {Continue reading}

Mount Graham Coalition v. Thomas
53 F.3d 970 (9th Cir. 1995)
A coalition of environmental groups brought one of a series of challenges to the Mount Graham International Observatory Project, seeking to protect an endangered subspecies of red squirrel. The coalition challenged an approval by the U.S. Forest Service and... {Continue reading}

Muckleshoot Indian Tribe v. United States Forest Service
177 F.3d 800 (9th Cir.1999)
The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe sued the United States Forest Service (Forest Service) over its decision to implement a land exchange with Weyerhaeuser timber company on Huckleberry Mountain in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court,... {Continue reading}

National Parks & Conservation Ass'n v. Babbitt
241 F.3d 722 (9th Cir. 2001)
The National Parks & Conservation Association (NPCA) sued the National Park Service, alleging that the Park Service's failure to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) before increasing the number of cruise ships allowed into Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve... {Continue reading}

National Parks & Conservation Ass'n v. United States Department of Transportation
222 F.3d 677 (9th Cir. 2000)
In this case, the Ninth Circuit denied National Parks and Conservation Association's (National Parks) petition for review of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) approval of the expansion of Kahului Airport in Hawaii. The court held that 1) FAA did not... {Continue reading}

National Wildlife Federation v. Espy
45 F.3d 1337 (9th Cir. 1995)
The Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) took title to a ranch in Idaho as a result of delinquent payments by the borrower. A bank in Spokane, Washington held a mortgage on a portion of the 4,704 acre ranch, including about 730... {Continue reading}

Native Ecosystems Council v. Dombeck
304 F.3d 886 (9th Cir. 2002)
Environmental groups Native Ecosystems Council and Bear Creek Council (collectively Bear Creek) challenged the approval of a timber sale by officials within the Department of Agriculture and Department of the Interior (collectively Defendants). Specifically, Bear Creek argued that the United... {Continue reading}

Native Ecosystems Council v. U. S. Forest Service
418 F.3d 953 (9th Cir. 2005)
Native Ecosystems Council and The Ecology Center (NEC) appealed a district court's summary judgment that the United States Forest Service (USFS) approval of the North Elkhorns Vegetation Treatment Project (Elkhorn Project or Project) was not arbitrary and capricious, in view... {Continue reading}

Natural Resources Defense Council v. U. S. Forest Service
421 F.3d 797 (9th Cir. 2005)
Natural Resources Defense Council, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, Sierra Club, National Audubon Society, The Wilderness Society, and Center for Biological Diversity (NRDC) appealed a district court's dismissal of NRDC's suit against the United States Forest Service, United States Department of... {Continue reading}

Neighbors of Cuddy Mountain v. Alexander
303 F.3d 1059 (9th Cir. 2002)
Neighbors of Cuddy Mountain, the Ecology Center, and Idaho Sport Congress (collectively Neighbors) challenged approval by the United States Forest Service (USFS) of a timber sale in the Grade and Dukes Creek area (Grade/Dukes) of the Payette National Forest in... {Continue reading}

Neighbors of Cuddy Mountain v. United States Forest Service
137 F.3d 1372 (9th Cir. 1998)
This suit arose out of a decision by the United States Forest Service (USFS or Service) to offer for harvest the Grade/Dukes Timber Sale in the Payette National Forest in Idaho. In 1990, USFS prepared an environmental impact statement (EIS)... {Continue reading}

Northern Alaska Environmental Center v. Kempthorne
457 F.3d 969 (9th Cir. 2006)
Various environmental organizations appealed a district court's grant of summary judgment upholding the adequacy under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)[1] and the Endangered Species Act (ESA)[2] of a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) prepared by the Bureau of Land... {Continue reading}

Northern Cheyenne Tribe v. Norton
503 F.3d 836 (9th Cir. 2007)
The Northern Cheyenne Tribe (Tribe) and Native Action, an advocacy group, petitioned the Ninth Circuit for review of a partial injunction issued by the District Court for the District of Montana after finding the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)... {Continue reading}

Northwest Environmental Advocates v. National Marine Fisheries Service
460 F.3d 1125 (9th Cir. 2006)
Northwest Environmental Advocates (NWEA) brought suit under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)[1] challenging the adequacy of a 2003 Final Supplemental Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) prepared by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (the... {Continue reading}

Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Bonneville Power Administration
117 F.3d 1520 (9th Cir. 1997)
The Northwest Environmental Defense Center (NEDC) petitioned for review of agreements reached by Department of Energy (DOE), through Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), with Canada and several electric utilities governing rights to water stored behind hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River... {Continue reading}

Northwest Resource Information Center, Inc. v. National Marine Fisheries Service
56 F.3d 1060 (9th Cir. 1995)
The Northwest Resource Information Center (NRIC) brought suit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The Idaho Department of Fish and Game intervened as a plaintiff while the Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative... {Continue reading}

Nuclear Information & Resource Service v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
457 F.3d 941 (9th Cir. 2006)
The Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Committee to Bridge the Gap, Public Citizen, Inc, and Redwood Alliance (collectively NIRS) brought suit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) claiming that, when NRC issued regulations governing exemption standards for the transportation... {Continue reading}

Ocean Advocates v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
402 F.3d 846 (9th Cir. 2005)
Ocean Advocates, a group of environmental non-profit organizations dedicated to the preservation of the Washington Coast, brought suit against the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to enjoin its decision to issue and extend a permit to British Petroleum... {Continue reading}

Okanogan Highlands Alliance v. Williams
236 F.3d 468 (9th Cir. 2000)
Okanogan Highlands Alliance (OHA) and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (Colville) challenged the adequacy of the United States Forest Service's (Forest Service) final environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared for the operation of a gold mine on Buckhorn Mountain... {Continue reading}

Oregon Natural Desert Ass'n v. U.S. Forest Service
465 F.3d 977 (9th Cir. 2006)
Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) appealed a judgment that the United States Forest Service's (USFS) issuance of annual operating instructions (AOIs) was not a final agency action for purposes of judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).[1] The Ninth... {Continue reading}

Oregon Natural Resources Council Action v. United States Bureau of Reclamation
150 F.3d 1132 (9th Cir. 1998)
Environmental plaintiffs Oregon Natural Resources Council Action and others (ONRC Action) brought suit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), seeking to enjoin the agency from carrying out management activities before it completed its Eastside Ecosystem Management Strategy (Eastside EIS).... {Continue reading}

Oregon Natural Resources Council v. Harrell
52 F.3d 1499 (9th Cir. 1995)
In 1962 Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to construct a series of three dams in the Rogue River Basin of Oregon. The last in the series of dams, the Elk Creek Dam, was about one-third... {Continue reading}

Oregon Natural Resources Council v. Lowe
109 F.3d 521 (9th Cir. 1997)
The Oregon Natural Resources Council (ONRC) and several other environmental groups brought an action alleging that the Forest Service failed to comply with both the National Forest Management Act (NFMA)[1] and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)[2] when it prepared... {Continue reading}

Oregon Natural Resources Council v. Marsh
52 F.3d 1485 (9th Cir.), aff'd in part by Oregon Natural Resources Council v. Harrell, 52 F.3d 1499 (9th Cir. 1995)
Environmental groups filed suit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to enjoin construction of a dam. The environmental groups argued that the Corps's second environmental impact statement supplement (EISS) was inadequate... {Continue reading}

Oregon Natural Resources Council v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management
470 F.3d 818 (9th Cir. 2006)
Oregon Natural Resources Council v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 470 F.3d 818 (9th Cir. 2006).   Plaintiffs Oregon Natural Resources Council Fund, together with Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Umpqua Watersheds, Inc., and Headwaters (collectively ONRC), appealed a district... {Continue reading}

Pit River Tribe v. U.S. Forest Service
469 F.3d 768 (9th Cir. 2006)
The Pit River Tribe, the Native Coalition for Medicine Lake Highlands Defense, and the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center (collectively Pit River) sued the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Department of Interior (collectively Agencies) alleging that the... {Continue reading}

Presidio Golf Club v. National Park Service
155 F.3d 1153 (9th Cir. 1998)
In 1899, the Presidio Golf Club (the Club) was constructed on private land adjacent to the Presidio military facility in San Francisco. The Club's golf course was actually on military property. Club membership was private, although military personnel could join... {Continue reading}

Price Road Neighborhood Ass'n v. United States Department of Transportation
113 F.3d 1505 (9th Cir. 1997)
An association of residents living near a proposed freeway interchange project brought action against the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHA), and Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) alleging violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),[1]... {Continue reading}

Public Service Co. of Colorado v. Batt
67 F.3d 234 (9th Cir. 1995).
The Ninth Circuit held that the district court's second order modifying an original injunction did not change the provisions of the injunction such that the Ninth Circuit had jurisdiction over an appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1). In June... {Continue reading}

San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace v. Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n
449 F.3d 1016 (9th Cir. 2006)
The San Luis Obispo Mothers, the Sierra Club, and Peg Pinard (collectively Petitioners) petitioned the Ninth Circuit to review a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) denial of a hearing request regarding Pacific Gas and Electric's (PG&E) license application to... {Continue reading}

Seattle Audubon Society v. Mosley
80 F.3d 1401 (9th Cir. 1996)
This case consolidated three appeals challenging the decision by the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior to approve a plan to manage federal land with spotted owl habitat in the Pacific Northwest. Three environmental groups--Native Forest Council, Forest Conservation Council, and... {Continue reading}

Selkirk Conservation Alliance v. Forsgren
336 F.3d 944 (9th Cir. 2003)
Selkirk Conservation Alliance, Sierra Club, Kettle Range Conservation Group, Idaho Conservation League, and Pend Oreille Environmental Team (collectively Selkirk) brought action against Harv Forsgren in his official capacity as Regional Forester of the Pacific Northwest region, other United States Forest... {Continue reading}

Sierra Club v. Babbitt
65 F.3d 1502 (9th Cir. 1995)
Sierra Club brought suit challenging the construction of a logging road crossing U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land on Endangered Species Act (ESA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) grounds. The road building was based on a 1962... {Continue reading}

Sierra Club v. United States Forest Service
93 F.3d 610 (9th Cir. 1996)
The Sierra Club challenged proposed salvage timber sales at the Warner Creek area of Oregon, alleging violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In 1991, Warner Creek burned in an arson fire. It was a habitat for the Northern... {Continue reading}

Southwest Center for Biological Diversity v. Babbitt
150 F.3d 1152 (9th Cir. 1998)
Southwest Center for Biological Diversity (Southwest Center) brought a suit against Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, alleging that the government's plan to use the Additional Active Conservation Capacity (AACC) behind the Roosevelt Dam violated both the Endangered Species Act... {Continue reading}

West v. Secretary of the Department of Transportation
206 F.3d 920(9th Cir. 2000)
A pro se plaintiff appealed the district court's dismissal of his claims, which challenged a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) decision to categorically exclude a two-stage highway interchange project from review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).[1] The project involved... {Continue reading}

Westlands Water District v. United States Department of the Interior
376 F.3d 853 (9th Cir. 2004)
The Westlands Water District (Westlands) challenged restoration measures issued by the Department of Interior and the Hoopa Tribe (Interior) for the Trinity River in Northern California arguing that procedural requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)[1] and the Endangered... {Continue reading}

Wetlands Action Network v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
222 F.3d 1105 (9th Cir. 2000)
Wetlands Action Network (WAN) challenged the adequacy of the analysis of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)[1] for the dredge and fill of a wetland. The Ninth Circuit reversed the district... {Continue reading}