MGC Attorneys Speaking about Wind Energy & Wildlife at Upcoming Conferences

Eric Glitzenstein has been asked to speak on a panel entitled “Regulatory Challenges for Wind Project Development” at the 18th Annual Endangered Species Act Conference in Seattle, WA on Friday, January 28 at 10:45am. More information about the panel and the conference can be found here: http://www.theseminargroup.net/seminar.lasso?seminar=11.ESAWA. Bill Eubanks will also be speaking that weekend on the topic of “Wind Energy Development and Wildlife” at the Villanova Law School Environmental Law Symposium in Villanova, PA on Saturday, January 29 at 9:15am. More information about the conference can be found here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1136694885.

D.C. Bar Magazine Highlights MGC’s Successes in ESA Impact Litigation

The Washington Lawyer recently published an article exploring impact litigation under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The article highlights various recent cases litigated by Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal, including the Beech Ridge lawsuit challenging the unlawful take of endangered bats by an industrial wind power facility, a successful challenge of BP's and the Coast Guard's burning of sea turtles after the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and our participation in the pending multi-district litigation over the listing of the polar bear under the ESA. The article is found here: :  http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/resources/publications/washington_lawyer/january_2011/going_gone.cfm

Brief Filed In Case To Protect Imperiled Mouse And Overturn Dangerous Endangered Species Act Policy

We have filed an opening brief on the merits in our case challenging the Bush Administration's decision to strip the Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse of all Endangered Species Act protection in the Wyoming portion of its range (the subspecies remains protected in Colorado). The partial delisting decision was based on a controversial ESA policy adopted in 2007 and that, contrary to decades of prior practice, has been applied to limit the protection of not only the Preble's, but also wolves and other listed species. On behalf of the Colorado-based Center for Native Ecosystems and other conservation groups, we are seeking to restore full ESA protection for the Preble's, as well as invalidate the underlying policy limiting species protections. The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. For a copy of our brief, click here.

Journal of Legal Education Publishes Roundtable on Animal Law

The November 2010 issue of the Journal of Legal Education focuses on the emerging area of animal law, featuring a roundtable with young practitioners including Jessica Almy, an associate at Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal.  The roundtable, available online, focuses on challenges to advancing the interests of animals and ways that law schools can help prepare students to become animal lawyers.

Eubanks Invited to Speak at Inaugural Appalachian Public Interest Environmental Law Conference

Bill Eubanks will be presenting at the 1st Annual Appalachian Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee on Saturday, November 20, on a panel titled The Endangered Species Act: The Many Routes to Protecting Southeastern Species and Habitat through the ESA.  Eubanks will speak again on Sunday, November 21, on a panel titled Rulings from the High Court: What Remedies Are Available to Environmental Plaintiffs After Winter and Monsanto.  More information about the conference can be found here: https://sites.google.com/site/apielconference/.

West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel: Litigation Update

The oral argument for the Flying Squirrel case is scheduled on Wednesday, 11/17/2010. On behalf of a coalition of environmental organizations, we had filed a suit in June 2010 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Department of Interior and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), challenging the removal of the West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel from any protection of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and requesting the Court to reinstate the Squirrel’s “endangered species” listing. In brief, we primarily argue that the delisting decision is not based on objective measurable criteria or best available science, as required by the ESA.

All written briefs in the case are complete and the oral hearing is on 11/17/2010 at 10:00 A.M. in Courtroom 24A at the District of Columbia Federal District Courthouse before Judge Emmet G. Sullivan.

Eubanks Publishes Paper in Peer-Reviewed Climate Change Journal

Bill Eubanks recently published a paper on the devastating impacts of climate change in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses.  The paper highlights the rapidly worsening effects of climate change on the northeastern United States by focusing on the quintessential species in the region -- the sugar maple.  The abstract can be found here:  http://ijc.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.185/prod.82.  The paper builds on an earlier article that was published by the Penn State Environmental Law Review, available here:  http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1286946.