Articles

The Supreme Court should restore federalism to its rightful place. Utah’s prairie dogs depend on it.

November 06, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

This weekend, Senator Mike Lee of Utah and I had an article in the Wall Street Journal urging the Supreme Court to hear People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. … ...

Articles

PLF asks Supreme Court to restore constitutional limits on federal power

September 26, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Our Constitution limits the federal government’s powers to those expressly listed in the document. But the government we have today is a far cry from the limited government described by our Founding Fathers. PLF is asking the Supreme Court to restore the Constitution’s limits by rejecting an extreme, limitless interpretation of the Comm ...

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PLF petitions for rehearing in Utah prairie dog case

May 15, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

This morning, we filed a petition for rehearing en banc in People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service—our challenge to the federal government’s constitutional authority to regulate take of the Utah prairie dog. Three years ago, the District Court for the District of Utah ruled the regulation unc ...

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Tenth Circuit overturns Utah prairie dog decision

March 30, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

We got some disappointing news yesterday when the Tenth Circuit overturned the federal district court’s decision that federal regulations prohibiting the take of Utah prairie dogs exceed the federal government’s constitutional powers. As you may not recall, since more than 18 months passed between oral argument and the decision, PLF is ...

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Are states better than the feds at protecting endangered species?

February 03, 2016 | By JONATHAN WOOD

In honor of Groundhog Day, WildEarth Guardians released its annual report card for federal and state management of prairie dogs. Unsurprisingly, the environmental group isn’t too fond of PLF’s victory on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners (PETPO). Yet it’s judgment of the relative quality of federal and ...

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The Commerce Clause isn't a "do-whatever-you-feel-like" power

January 22, 2016 | By JONATHAN WOOD

In an article published today by the Federalist Society’s Engage, I discuss PLF’s constitutional challenge to the Endangered Species Act in the prairie dog case. As you’ll recall, we represented People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners — a group of Utah residents who have suffered for decades under federal regulat ...

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Has the pit bull of environmental law been spayed?

December 18, 2015 | By JONATHAN WOOD

The Endangered Species Act has often been called the “pit bull of environmental law” because “it’s short, compact and has a hell of a set of teeth. Because of its teeth, the act can force people to make the kind of tough political decisions they wouldn’t normally make.” As we’ve regularly reported, it can i ...

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Recording of 10th Circuit argument in Utah prairie dog case

September 30, 2015 | By JONATHAN WOOD

The Endangered Species & Wetlands Report has obtained the recording of the Monday’s oral argument in the Utah prairie dog case. As you’ll recall, this is the constitutional challenge to the federal government’s authority to regulate any activity that affects any living thing under the Commerce Clause. As we argue, the Commerce ...

Articles

Did the raisin case silently insulate the Endangered Species Act from the Constitution?

August 24, 2015 | By JONATHAN WOOD

A recent article in Greenwire, reports that opponents of robust Constitutional protections for property rights and limits on federal power are finding a kernel of hope in the Supreme Court’s opinion in the raisin case decided last term. They contend that the opinion insulates regulations to protect wildlife — like those adopted under th ...