The court of appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court judgment and remanded for further proceedings. The court held that the Bureau of Land management had violated both the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act in adopting the 2006 amendments to its grazing regulations.
The Bureau of Land management (BLM) had in place regulations implementing its grazing management responsibilities pursuant to the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934, 43 U.S.C. §315 et seq.. It adopted amendments to the regulations in 2006 which made several major modifications to its 1995 regulations. The 2006 regulations fell into three broad categories: (1) public input in public lands management; (2) the BLM’s environmental enforcement powers; and (3) permittees’ and lessees’ ownership rights on public grazing land.
