NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION, FRIENDS OF BLACKWATER, and SIERRA CLUB v. DEB HAALAND and UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
The National Wildlife Refuge Association, Friends of Blackwater, and The Sierra Club sued the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that the agency’s September 2022 decision to withdraw its plan to phase out lead ammunition in the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge in West Virginia by 2026 violates the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act (Improvement Act) and has “irreparably injured” wildlife preservation interests. Plaintiffs are seeking declaratory judgment and an order remanding FWS’s decision for a new decision consistent with the Improvement Act.
[To accompany Case Law Update "Conservation Groups Challenge FWS Decision to Cancel Phase-Out of Lead Ammunition Use in West Virginia Wildlife Refuge" from Brooks Animal Law Digest Issue No. 202]