Aransas Project v. Bryan Shaw, et al

<> Aransas Project v. Bryan Shaw, et al - 12/16/14. In the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, Case No. 13-40317. Petition for rehearing en banc the case involving the deaths of 23 endangered whooping cranes. 4 judges voted in favor of rehearing and 11 judges voted against rehearing. The petition was denied and a joint dissent was filed indicating, "If uncorrected by this Court en banc or the Supreme Court, this decision, and others like it, sends a clear message to litigants: if you don't like the factual findings of a district court, the doors of our Court are wide open to endless retrials on appeal. . . The causal connection between TCEQ's failure to maintain freshwater inflows and a "take" of endangered whooping cranes is straightforward.

Conservation Congress v. Finley

<> Conservation Congress v. Finley - 12/16/14. In the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, Case No. 12-16916. The court again considers the fate of the threatened Northern Spotted Owl, this time in the context of a lumber thinning and fuel reduction project in northern California. Conservation Congress contends violations of various national environmental laws. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the government, and the Appeals Court affirmed.