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WildEarth Guardians v. Steele
Swan View Coalition v. Bernhardt ↗
9:19-cv-00060United States District of Montana (D. Mont.)1 entry
Filing Date
Type
Action Taken
Document
Summary
WildEarth Guardians v. Steele ↗
9:19-cv-00056United States District of Montana (D. Mont.)4 entries
Filing Date
Type
Action Taken
Document
Summary
06/24/2021
Decision
Parties' motions for summary judgment granted in part and denied in part and provisions of the 2017 BiOp that violated the Endangered Species Act remanded without vacatur.
The federal district court for the District of Montana largely rejected challenges to federal approvals of revisions to the Flathead National Forest Land Management Plan in northwestern Montana but remanded without vacatur for additional analysis of certain issues under the Endangered Species Act. Those issues included the revised plan’s impact on the national grizzly bear population. The opinion did not specifically address the plaintiffs’ allegations that the federal defendants failed to account for climate change impacts on grizzly bears.
Swan View Coalition v. Steele ↗
22-35137United States Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.)1 entry
Filing Date
Type
Action Taken
Document
Summary
06/09/2023
Decision
District court judgment affirmed in part, remanded in part, and remanded.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that claims challenging a 2017 biological opinion (BiOp) for a forest plan for the Flathead National Forest were moot due to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s issuance of a superseding BiOp in 2022. The Ninth Circuit therefore vacated the District of Montana’s summary judgment rulings on Endangered Species Act claims, which remanded for additional analysis of certain issues, including impacts on the national grizzly bear population. The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment rulings for the defendants on National Environmental Policy Act claims. Neither the Ninth Circuit’s memorandum nor the district court’s 2021 opinion addressed some plaintiffs’ allegations that the federal defendants did not account for climate change impacts on grizzly bears.