Articles

Making a living ranching or farming in the harsh desert lands of American southwest is demanding enough. But federal bureaucrats have managed to make it even harder by playing word games to stretch the limits of federal law beyond recognition. That's the case for ranchers in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service de ...

PLF filed a fresh lawsuit today on the heels of our latest Supreme Court victory. Last week, in Weyerhaeuser v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, a unanimous Supreme Court reaffirmed that agencies are not immune from judicial review of their actions. This wasn't just a win for PLF and our clients: it was also a win for the critical princi ...

On Friday, our clients, the California Cattlemen's Association, the California Wool Growers Association, and the California Farm Bureau Federation, asked a federal judge to find that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to follow the law when it designated 1.8 million acres as critical habitat for the Yellow-Legged Frog and the Yosemite Toad. ...

Opening day for SCOTUS nears as PLF readies to throw first pitch This week Pacific Legal Foundation filed its Reply Brief in Weyerhaeuser v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, a case that arises from the Fifth Circuit and involves our client Edward Poitevent's property in the deep woods of Louisiana. The Supreme Court of the United States will he ...

Markle Interests' brief filed with High Court in Weyerhaeuser v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service This week we filed our merits brief in the Supreme Court supporting the landowers in Weyerhaeuser Co. v. United States Fish & Wildlife Service. Earlier this year, the Court granted review and we expect to hear soon from the Court when oral argu ...

PLF demands that government consider the costs of its regulations According to the Regulatory Flexibility Act, a government agency that issues a regulation must prepare a report that describes the rule's economic impacts on small businesses and the steps the agency took to minimize those impacts. In 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service desig ...

PLF supports property owners' right to a jury in federal takings cases Code violations should not be a city's no-appeal cash machine PLF announces appeal to illegal jaguar rule Coastal Commission tries to force city to destroy property rights Courts should rule in the best interests of Indian children -- just like other children are ...

This week, PLF filed notice that we will be appealing the district court decision upholding the jaguar critical habitat rule, on behalf of the New Mexico Farm & Livestock Bureau, New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association, and New Mexico Federal Lands Council. The designation of critical habitat for jaguar in New Mexico unnecessarily ties thousa ...

caption id="attachment_50789" align="alignright" width="225" Electric Fence Warning in Otero County/caption Before making a decision, most organizations take into account the costs and benefits of a proposed action, and will change course if the costs outweigh the benefits. Unfortunately, the federal government takes a different approach, even w ...