I published this op-ed in the Visalia-Times Delta this morning. Here’s a snippet: Enacted in 1973 under President Richard Nixon, the ESA authorizes federal officials to identify “endangered” and “threatened” species, and foster recovery through regulation. In one respect — … Continue reading
This morning, Judge Lawrence O’Neill of the Eastern District of California (who now presides over the Consolidated Delta Smelt and Consolidated Salmonid Cases following Judge Oliver Wanger’s retirement last year) partially granted the federal government’s request for more time to complete new … Continue reading
This morning, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to rehear en banc the appeal in Natural Resources Defense Council v. Salazar. In this case, the environmentalists challenge the failure of the Bureau of Reclamation to consult with the United … Continue reading
Yesterday, Judge Lawrence O’Neill, Judge Wanger’s replacement in the Delta smelt cases, denied the joint motion of the feds and the California Department of Water Resources to extend by several years the existing deadline for these agencies to produce a … Continue reading
Last month, Judge Selna of the Central District of California rejected, in Bear Valley Mutual Water Co. v. Salazar, a challenge to the critical habitat designation of the Santa Ana Sucker, a “threatened” fish protected under the Endangered Species Act. … Continue reading
This morning the Ninth Circuit heard argument in the consolidated Delta smelt appeals. At issue was Judge Oliver Wanger’s decision overturning the 2008 Delta smelt biological opinion, authored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The appeals raise extremely complex … Continue reading
On Monday morning in Las Vegas, the Ninth Circuit will hear the consolidated appeals of the federal government and its environmentalist supporters challenging Judge Oliver Wanger’s decision to overturn the Delta smelt biological opinion. These appeals promise to be precedent-setting, … Continue reading