Challenge to Fish and Wildlife Service's Designation of Owl Habitat, and Employment Matter
Arizona Cattle Growers' Assn. v. Salazar, No. 08-15810, involved a challenge to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) designation of critical habitat for the Mexican Spotted Owl. The court of appeals affirmed summary judgment for defendants, on the grounds that 1) the FWS permissibly interpreted the word "occupied" in the Endangered Species Act to include areas where the owl was likely to be present and, applying this definition, the FWS designated only "occupied" areas; 2) the FWS did not arbitrarily and capriciously treat unoccupied areas as occupied; and 3) even if the FWS listed the species concurrently with designating critical habitat, listing the species is a necessary antecedent to designating habitat.
Addington v. US Airline Pilots Assn., No. 09-16564, concerned an action claiming that a union breached its duty of fair representation by negotiating a contract that would impermissibly favor one group of represented pilots at the expense of another. The court of appeals reversed judgment for plaintiff, on the ground that this case presented contingencies that could prevent the effectuation of the union's proposal and the accompanying injury, and thus the matter was not ripe for adjudication.
Related Resources
- Full Text of Arizona Cattle Growers' Assn. v. Salazar, No. 08-15810
- Full Text of Addington v. US Airline Pilots Assn., No. 09-16564