Articles

Sacramento River Settlement Contractors update

May 01, 2009 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

Somach, Simmons & Dunn's Andrew M. Hitchings has this post on Judge Wanger's decision this week to rule in favor of Sacramento River Settlement Contractors.  An excerpt: Based upon the foregoing determinations, the Court granted summary judgment in favor of the SRS Contractors and the Federal Defendants. The Final Decision constit ...

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Endangered Species Act spin

May 01, 2009 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

NRDC's Barry Nelson has a lengthy post on the California water shortage and suggests that "although pumping has been reduced modestly to protect endangered fish, the pumps have not been turned off, and it is drought, not environmental restrictions, that are reducing water deliveries." Of course, this is not true — the drought is ...

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Status review initiated for Oregon Coast Coho

May 02, 2009 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

NOAA Fisheries announced this week that it's beginning a 5-year status review of the Oregon Coast coho ESU.  This ESU has been the focal point of much litigation over the last decade and a half.  Most recently, Trout Unlimited and other environmental organizations successfully challenged the Service's decision not to relist the ...

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Chuck DeVore on Paul Rodriguez on the delta smelt

May 04, 2009 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

Big Hollywood's Chuck DeVore (who is also a California State Assemblyman and candidate for the U.S. Senate) has this profile on comedian Paul Rodriguez and his work with the the California Latino Water Coalition. An excerpt: Rodriguez said many environmentalists are earnest people who are concerned that the delta smelt are “the cana ...

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Project Attorney Dave Breemer Featured in "Texas Lawyer"

May 04, 2009 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

Here's an excellent article on a Texas Open Beaches Act case litigated by Mr. Breemer and resulting in a recent Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision. … ...

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memo to the media : reversal of Section 7 regulations did not restore scientific review of federal projects

May 04, 2009 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

Today's Las Vegas Sun contains an editorial in praise of the Obama administration's decision to withdrawal the Section 7 consultation regulations. According to the Sun, The timing of the decision by Interior Secretary Salazar and Commerce Secretary Locke is critical as the nation enters a new phase of construction projects that are being fi ...

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The fate of the polar bear 4(d) rule?

May 05, 2009 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

The New York Times reports that environmental groups are lobbying heavily for its expedited repeal.  Should it be repealed, expect industry groups to join in the ongoing challenges to the polar bear's listing. … ...

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City Forces Property Owner to Give Up Right to Vote : Ninth Circuit Argument

May 06, 2009 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

by Timothy Sandefur Tomorrow I will be arguing the case of Griswold v. City of Carlsbad in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California. This is an astonishing case in which city officials forced the Griswold family to give up their constitutionally protected right to vote in exchange for a building permit. Hard … ...

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A retrenchment of the "benefit of the doubt to the species"?

May 07, 2009 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

Yesterday the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Miccosukee Tribe v. USA, a case concerning Army Corps activities in the Florida Everglades.  The tribe contended that the Corps' flooding activities jeopardized the Cape Sable seaside sparrow.  The Eleventh Circuit's opinion largely upheld the Corps' actions, and the F ...