Norfolk Eagle Case Voluntarily Dismissed

Our client Eagle On Alliance (EOA) ended 2 ½ years of litigation by voluntarily dismissing its case against the Fish and Wildlife Service and USDA Wildlife Services.  As EOA explained to the Judge presiding over the case, the Norfolk Eagles have now moved to private property where their nests can no longer be destroyed by the federal government, and the Norfolk International Airport recently hired full-time staff to detect and deter birds on the runways at the Airport (evidently in response to our lawsuit).  Because protecting the eagles and having the Airport do more to avoid collisions between birds and aircraft were the main goals of the lawsuit, EOA determined that there was no reason to continue with the suit.  The case was dismissed “without prejudice” meaning that if any action is taken to harm the Eagles, EOA would not be foreclosed from bringing another case. The Eagles have spent the last several months building their nest and are clearly getting ready to produce a new clutch!  Here is a recent photograph of “Dad Norfolk” standing in his new nest; and of the Norfolk pair.

Court Grants Wild Horse Advocates’ Motion to Intervene in State of Wyoming’s Suit Seeking Removal of Wild Horses from Range

The United States District Court for the District of Wyoming has granted our motion to intervene on behalf of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC), The Cloud Foundation, Return to Freedom, and wild horse advocates and photographers Carol Walker and Kimerlee Curyl, in a case brought by the State of Wyoming against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  Wyoming seeks a court order requiring the removal of hundreds of wild horses from public lands in Wyoming—a state in which fewer than 2,500 wild horses remain, which is far below the federal government’s established Appropriate Management Level for the state’s wild horse population. Our clients wanted to intervene in the case to ensure that the interests of wild horses are protected from the pro-ranching special interests and their allies in state government. The purpose of our intervention is to prevent the federal government from acceding to the State’s claims that the horses must be removed from the public lands to protect the private livestock that are allowed to graze on the same lands, and which outnumber wild horses in the state by the thousands. The Judge’s Order granted our clients intervention as a matter of right in order to protect their aesthetic, educational, and economic interests in the wild horses that roam the range in Wyoming.