Environmental

Recent Posts

What Is On the Mind of the DOJ Environmental and Natural Resources Division?
Posted on 2 Sep 2015 by Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

On July 23, 2015, John Cruden, head of DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, gave this speech to the American Bar Association Litigation Section on the current direction of federal environmental enforcement efforts. It touches upon issues... Read More

USFWS WV Field Office Guidance on Bat Conservation Plans – Proceed Cautiously
Posted on 26 Aug 2015 by Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has released the “Guidance on Developing and Implementing a Myotid Bat Conservation Plan. http://www.fws.gov/westvirginiafieldoffice/PDF/WVFO_IBCP.pdf . Key teaching points about this guidance are raised in the following... Read More

Fisheries Act Convictions For Discharging Drinking Water
Posted on 21 Jul 2015 by Dianne Saxe

Two Alberta construction companies have been convicted under the Fisheries Act for rupturing municipal water mains, discharging chlorinated drinking water into storm sewers and fish habitat. Treated municipal drinking water is harmful to fish, which... Read More

USFWS Snubs State Natural Resources Agencies: Northern Long Eared Bat ESA Listing Proposal
Posted on 14 May 2014 by Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

By Kathy G. Beckett There is a growing concern about USFWS action relative to the Northern Long-Eared Bat (NLEB) that speaks to the common dilemma, state versus federal. It was the state natural resource professionals who identified the impacts... Read More

Good News for the Sage Grouse
Posted on 31 Jul 2014 by Dianne Saxe

As we have written before , the Greater Sage Grouse is on the verge of extinction, likely due to habitat loss related oil and gas development. Prompted by litigation , the federal government finally issued an Emergency Order to protect the grouse in December... Read More

Canada Lags US In Protecting Endangered Sage-Grouse
Posted on 2 Sep 2014 by Dianne Saxe

By Meredith James In July, the US Fish and Wildlife Service launched a website to “communicate the breadth of the ongoing conservation actions underway to support Greater Sage-Grouse and the sage brush habitat the bird and 350 other species need... Read More