Alaska Wildlife Alliance v. Jensen
108 F.3d 1065 (9th Cir. 1997)
Two environmental groups, the Alaska Wildlife Alliance and American Wildlands, sued the Secretary of the Interior and the National Park Service (Park Service) to halt commercial fishing in Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park. The groups challenged the Park Service's conclusion... {Continue reading}

Alliance Against IFQs v. Brown
84 F.3d 343 (9th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 117 S.Ct. 1467 (1997)
Alliance Against IFQs (plaintiffs) filed suit to challenge federal regulations that the Secretary of Commerce promulgated under authority of the Magnuson Act.[1] The goal of the Act is to provide for fishery management plans that would ensure optimum yields from... {Continue reading}

Aluminum Co. of Am. v. National Marine Fisheries Serv.
92 F.3d 902 (9th Cir. 1996)
This is an appeal by the Aluminum Company of America from a grant of summary judgment in favor of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The Aluminum Company of America, a group composed... {Continue reading}

Clausen v. M/V New Carissa
339 F.3d 1049 (9th Cir. 2003)
The owners of the freighter M/V New Carissa appealed an award of damages, attorney fees, and expenses to the Clausens, owners of a commercial oyster farm. On appeal, the owners of the New Carissa (ship's owners) argued the testimony offered... {Continue reading}

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation v. Bonneville Power Administration
342 F.3d 924 (9th Cir. 2003)
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Nez Perce Tribe (collectively Tribes), environmental groups, and the State of Oregon (Tribes, environmental groups, and the State of Oregon collectively petitioners) petitioned for review of various actions of Bonneville Power... {Continue reading}

Conservation Force, Inc. v. Manning
301 F.3d 985 (9th Cir. 2002), cert. denied sub nom. Golighltly v. Montoya, 123 S. Ct. 902 (2003)
Hunters and hunting guides residing in New Mexico challenged an Arizona regulation imposing a ten percent cap on nonresident hunting of bull elk and antlered deer as unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause.[1] The district court granted the state summary judgment,... {Continue reading}

Foss v. National Marine Fisheries Service
161 F.3d 584 (9th Cir. 1998)
In 1993, the Secretary of Commerce instituted an Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) program in an effort to control overfishing of halibut and sablefish resources and to create "a stable market for transferable fishing rights."[1] The plaintiff, a commercial fisherman whose... {Continue reading}

Midwater Trawlers Co-operative v. Department of Commerce
282 F.3d 710 (9th Cir. 2002)
The states of Oregon and Washington as well as fishing industry groups appealed a decision by the district court that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) did not act arbitrarily in allocating Pacific whiting fish to the Makah Indian Tribe.... {Continue reading}

Myers v. American Triumph F/V
260 F.3d 1067 (9th Cir. 2001)
The plaintiffs appealed the district court's dismissal of their in rem class action suit in admiralty against a fishing vessel, the F/V American Triumph (the Vessel). The United States Coast Guard issued a certificate of documentation and fishery endorsement... {Continue reading}

Natural Resources Defense Council v. Houston
146 F.3d 1118 (9th Cir. 1998), cert. denied, 119 S. Ct. 1754 (1999)
The United States Bureau of Reclamation (the Bureau) constructed the Friant dam unit (Friant Dam) of the Central Valley Project on the San Joaquin River in California in 1944. In the late 1940s, the Bureau began entering into forty-year contracts... {Continue reading}

Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Evans
316 F.3d 904 (9th Cir. 2003)
Two environmental organizations brought suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS),[1] challenging its issuance of specifications and management measures for 2001 for the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fisheries without meeting notice and comment requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and... {Continue reading}

Ninilchik Traditional Council v. United States
227 F.3d 1186 (9th Cir. 2000)
The Ninilchik Traditional Council (NTC) brought a lawsuit against the United States seeking review of the Federal Subsistence Board's decision to impose an antler size restriction on subsistence uses of moose within a Game Management Unit (GMU) pursuant to the... {Continue reading}

Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Bonneville Power Administration
No. 06-70430 (9th Cir., Jan. 24, 2007)
Northwest Environmental Defense Center, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, together with the Confederate Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation (Petitioners) petitioned the Ninth Circuit for review of Bonneville Power Administration's (BPA) decision to transfer... {Continue reading}

Southwest Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Bureau of Reclamation
143 F.3d 515 (9th Cir. 1998)
The plaintiff, Southwest Center for Biological Diversity (Southwest Center), alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA)[1] by the United States Bureau of Reclamation (the Bureau). The plaintiff asserted that the Bureau's operations on the Lake Mead delta behind Hoover... {Continue reading}

Swanson v. United States Forest Service
87 F.3d 339 (9th Cir. 1996)
John Swanson, the Idaho Sportsmen's Coalition (ISC), and several environmental organizations brought suit challenging the United States Forest Service's decision to authorize timber sales and concurrent road construction in the Cove and Mallard drainages of the Nez Perce National Forest... {Continue reading}

United States v. Antoine
318 F.3d 919 (9th Cir. 2003)
Defendant Antoine appealed his conviction under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA),[1] as a violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).[2] Antoine, a member of the Cowichen Band of the Salish Indian Tribe in British Columbia, obtained... {Continue reading}

United States v. Bramble
103 F.3d 1475 (9th Cir. 1996), amended (Feb. 14, 1997)
Ronald Bramble appealed a series of felony and misdemeanor convictions, including possession of eagle feathers and migratory birds. In its first chance to uphold a federal wildlife protection law since the Supreme Court limited Congress's Commerce Clause authority in United... {Continue reading}

United States v. Ertsgaard
222 F.3d 615 (9th Cir. 2000)
In this case, the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's pre-trial dismissal of an indictment against a commercial fisherman for two violations of the Lacey Act.[1] Because the regulations the fisherman was charged with violating were promulgated under authority of... {Continue reading}

United States v. Fejes
232 F.3d 696 (9th Cir. 2000)
The Ninth Circuit affirmed James Fejes's conviction in federal district court for conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act[1] and two substantive violations of the Lacey Act. The appellate court held that a "sale" of wildlife under the Lacey Act includes... {Continue reading}

United States v. Hugs
109 F.3d 1375 (9th Cir. 1997)
Defendants Frank and William Hugs were convicted of violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA).[1] On appeal to the Ninth Circuit, the defendants claimed the BGEPA violated their First Amendment right to free exercise of religion. They also... {Continue reading}

United States v. LeVeque
283 F.3d 1098 (9th Cir. 2002)
Dennis LeVeque, a licensed hunting outfitter in Montana, and John Moore, a licensed hunting guide in Montana, were convicted in district court of mail fraud in connection with an application they filed to obtain an out-of-state hunting license for a... {Continue reading}

United States v. McKittrick
142 F.3d 1170 (9th Cir. 1998)
In this case, the Ninth Circuit upheld Chad McKittrick's conviction for violating both the Endangered Species Act (ESA or Act)[1] and the Lacey Act[2] when he killed a gray wolf and transported its head and hide to his home. Specifically,... {Continue reading}

United States v. Senchenko
133 F.3d 1153 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 119 S. Ct. 171 (1998)
In this case, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the conviction of Nikolay Senchenko for a felony violation of the Lacey Act.[2] The government sought to prove that Senchenko had "knowingly engaged in conduct involving an intent to sell wildlife with a... {Continue reading}

Wards Cove Packing Corp. v. National Marine Fisheries Service
307 F.3d 1214 (9th Cir. 2002)
Wards Cove Packing Corporation (Wards Cove), a commercial fishing company, appealed the district court's summary judgment decision deferring to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on an interpretative rule concerning a sablefish harvest regulation. The Ninth Circuit found no ambiguity... {Continue reading}

Wilderness Society v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service
353 F.3d 1051 (9th Cir. 2003) (en banc), amended by 360 F.3d 1374 (9th Cir. 2004) (en banc)
Wilderness Society and the Alaska Center for the Environment (collectively Wilderness Society) appealed a district court's decision granting summary judgment in favor of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Wilderness Society challenged FWS's grant of a permit to... {Continue reading}

Wilderness Society v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service
316 F.3d 913 (9th Cir. 2003), vacated & reg'h en banc granted, __ F.3d __, 2003 WL 21948745 (9th Cir. 2003)
Wilderness Society and the Alaska Center for the Environment (collectively Wilderness Society) challenged an action of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) permitting an enhancement project for sockeye salmon (Oncorhyncus nerka) to continue within a national refuge and... {Continue reading}