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Full-Text Articles in Law

Red Wolf Coalition V. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission: Better Red Than Dead, Edward A. Fitzgerald Jan 2017

Red Wolf Coalition V. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission: Better Red Than Dead, Edward A. Fitzgerald

Animal Law Review

This Article demonstrates how federal district court decisions have protected the threatened red wolf. The history of red wolf introduction and the Fourth Circuit decision in Gibbs v. Babbitt are reviewed. In 2012, North Carolina allowed coyote hunting in the red wolf recovery area. The District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina correctly issued an injunction stop­ping the action. The court held North Carolina set in motion events that led to the killing of red wolves and violated federal regulations regarding the taking of red wolves. The resulting settlement agreement precluded state interference with red wolf recovery. Genetic …


Harming The Tinkerer: The Case For Aligning Standing And Preliminary Injunction Analysis In The Endangered Species Act, Danny Lutz Jan 2014

Harming The Tinkerer: The Case For Aligning Standing And Preliminary Injunction Analysis In The Endangered Species Act, Danny Lutz

Animal Law Review

Reviewing preliminary injunction motions under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), most district courts evaluate “irreparable harm” through one of two lines of analysis. One line, promoted by property rights interest groups, reasons that individual mortalities might not constitute irreparable harm if they do not impact survival of the species. In contrast to this “species-level harm” analysis, another approach argues that “individual-level harm” suffices because it is irreparable to the animal. The recent First Circuit opinion in Animal Welfare Institute v. Martin attempts, but ultimately fails, to bridge the divide over which level of analysis to apply for irreparable harm under …


Getting Species On Board The Ark One Lawsuit At A Time: How The Failure To List Deserving Species Has Undercut The Effectiveness Of The Endangered Species Act, James Jay Tutchton Jan 2014

Getting Species On Board The Ark One Lawsuit At A Time: How The Failure To List Deserving Species Has Undercut The Effectiveness Of The Endangered Species Act, James Jay Tutchton

Animal Law Review

This Article, presented by a former general counsel for WildEarth Guardians, discusses the organization’s attempts to protect imperiled species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). By comparing extinction patterns from the past, we can see that the human impact on the Earth’s biodiversity is similar to that caused by past geological catastrophes. The ESA is the Noah’s Ark of our time, providing the best opportunity to help stem the tide of extinction. In analyzing the ESA, it is clear that the Act serves important human interests and is effective when utilized as intended. However, the United States Fish & Wildlife …


The Endangered Species Act At Forty: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Daniel J. Rohlf Jan 2014

The Endangered Species Act At Forty: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Daniel J. Rohlf

Animal Law Review

No abstract provided.


Endangered Species Act Listings And Climate Change: Avoiding The Elephant In The Room, Michael C. Blumm, Kya B. Marienfeld Jan 2014

Endangered Species Act Listings And Climate Change: Avoiding The Elephant In The Room, Michael C. Blumm, Kya B. Marienfeld

Animal Law Review

The Endangered Species Act (ESA), with its reputation as the nation’s strongest environmental law, might be expected to impose some limits on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions adversely affecting listed species due to rising global temperatures. Although the federal government recently conceded that some species warrant listing because of climate change, the accompanying listing decisions revealed a federal refusal to apply the ESA to constrain GHG emissions. In this Article, we explain those decisions—involving the American pika, the polar bear, the wolverine, and the Gunnison sage-grouse—and their implications. We conclude with some surprising observations about the Obama Administration’s apparent endorsement of …


The Lizard, The Scientist, & The Lawmaker: An Analysis Of The Trending Fight Over The Use Of Science Under The Endangered Species Act And How To Address It, Brie D. Sherwin Jan 2014

The Lizard, The Scientist, & The Lawmaker: An Analysis Of The Trending Fight Over The Use Of Science Under The Endangered Species Act And How To Address It, Brie D. Sherwin

Animal Law Review

Recently in Texas, the dunes sagebrush lizard—a tiny, little-known reptile living in the sparse brush and dunes of the oil and gas fields—sparked a heated discussion and criticism over the listing process under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This six-year battle ended with the withdrawal of a proposed rule to list the lizard and resulted in numerous criticisms about the role and use of scientific data throughout the process. Under the ESA, the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) is required to consider the best available scientific data when deciding whether to list a species. However, there is no …


Bullhooks And The Law: Is Pain And Suffering The Elephant In The Room?, Trevor J. Smith Jan 2013

Bullhooks And The Law: Is Pain And Suffering The Elephant In The Room?, Trevor J. Smith

Animal Law Review

In the United States, violent use of “bullhooks”—sharpened, steel-tipped rods—on captive elephants at carnivals, circuses, and zoos is all too routine. Yet animal-welfare advocates struggle to protect elephants from the (mis)use of bullhooks under the current regulatory regime. At the federal level, advocates cannot consistently rely on either the Animal Welfare Act or the Endangered Species Act, due to these statutes’ narrow provisions, standing limitations, and inconsistent enforcement. State animal-protection laws are equally deficient, as only two states have defined suffering and abuse clearly enough in their statutes to enable effective prosecution of elephant mistreatment, and plaintiffs in even these …


From The Halls Of Congress To The Shores Of The Little T: The Snail Darter And The Dam: How Pork-Barrel Politics Endangered A Little Fish And Killed A River By Zygmunt J. B. Plater, Sara Blankenship Jan 2013

From The Halls Of Congress To The Shores Of The Little T: The Snail Darter And The Dam: How Pork-Barrel Politics Endangered A Little Fish And Killed A River By Zygmunt J. B. Plater, Sara Blankenship

Animal Law Review

The snail darter has become a symbol of environmental extremism. In reality, however, the farmers, members of the Cherokee Nation, and concerned citizens were simply fighting to keep the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)’s Tellico Dam from destroying the last free-flowing miles of the Little Tennessee River. This Book Review examines the work of Zygmunt J.B. Plater, the law professor who, along with ordinary citizens, fought their case all the way to the United States Supreme Court in defense of their river, the snail darter, and the Endangered Species Act. Plater reveals the truth behind the landmark TVA v. Hill case …


Rules For Playing God: The Need For Assisted Migration & New Regulation, Jessica Kabaz-Gomez Jan 2012

Rules For Playing God: The Need For Assisted Migration & New Regulation, Jessica Kabaz-Gomez

Animal Law Review

Climate change is quickly transforming habitats. Species in affected regions are facing extinction as they are unable to migrate to suitable environments. This Note discusses assisted migration, the intentional human-assisted movement of imperiled species to suitable habitats outside of their historic range, as an important—though controversial—conservation tool. There are, however, no comprehensive assisted migration regulations in the United States. This Note argues that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) should be the agency to issue regulations regarding assisted migration because FWS already has broad authority under the Endangered Species Act to conserve wildlife. This Note proposes that new regulations …


The Endangered Species Act V. The United States Department Of Justice: How The Department Of Justice Derailed Criminal Prosecutions Under The Endangered Species Act, Ed Newcomer, Marie Palladini, Leah Jones Jan 2011

The Endangered Species Act V. The United States Department Of Justice: How The Department Of Justice Derailed Criminal Prosecutions Under The Endangered Species Act, Ed Newcomer, Marie Palladini, Leah Jones

Animal Law Review

Historically, in prosecutions under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), to prove the element “knowingly” the government only had to prove that a defendant intentionally killed an animal that turned out to be endangered or threatened, not that the defendant knew the identity of the species or the endangered or threatened status of the animal when it was killed. Jury instructions to this effect were repeatedly upheld. Then, in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court for McKittrick v. U.S., the federal government, unprompted, unnecessarily, and without explanation, said that it would not use this jury instruction in the future …


Ringling Brothers On Trial: Circus Elephants And The Endangered Species Act, Mark Eichelman Jan 2009

Ringling Brothers On Trial: Circus Elephants And The Endangered Species Act, Mark Eichelman

Animal Law Review

In February 2009, the case of American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, et al. v. Feld Entertainment, Inc. was heard in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The plaintiffs, four animal rights organizations and one former elephant handler for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, brought a citizen suit against Feld Entertainment, Inc. (FEI), owner of Ringling Brothers, alleging that the Circus’ use of bullhooks and leg tethers on its endangered Asian elephants constituted illegal “takings” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). FEI argued that the plaintiffs did not have standing to …


2004 Legislative Review, Joshua D. Hodes Jan 2005

2004 Legislative Review, Joshua D. Hodes

Animal Law Review

No abstract provided.


Slamming Shut The Ark Doors: Congress's Attack On The Listing Process Of The Endangered Species Act, Jeffrey S. Kopf Jan 1997

Slamming Shut The Ark Doors: Congress's Attack On The Listing Process Of The Endangered Species Act, Jeffrey S. Kopf

Animal Law Review

The 104th Congress legislated a complete moratorium on the listing of species and critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act. Mr. Kopf explores the motivations behind the moratorium and shows how market forces may further weaken the ESA. This article questions whether the moratorium and its subsequent repeal signal a new era of environmental awareness or a return to industry's discreet manipulation of the legislative process.