Florida Wildlife Federation Inc. v. United States Army Corps of Engineers

ROSENBAUM, Circuit Judge:

With the 1937 opening of Florida’s only cross-state water channel, the Okeechobee Waterway (the “Waterway”), boats could reach the Gulf of Mexico from the Atlantic Ocean without going around the southern tip of Florida. Besides saving distance and time, the channel allowed smaller vessels to avoid uncertain sea conditions offshore.

Plaintiff-Appellants Florida Wildlife Federation, Inc., Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida, Inc., and Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Inc., (collectively, “Conservationists”), complained about serious environmental problems…