Portland Audubon Society v. Endangered Species Committee

REINHARDT, Circuit Judge:

We consider here a motion filed in a most important and controversial case. The motion itself raises a significant issue of first impression. In the underlying proceeding, petitioners Portland Audubon Society et al. (collectively “the environmental groups”) challenge the decision of the statutorily-created Endangered Species Committee (“the Committee”), known popularly as “The God Squad”, to grant an exemption from the requirements of the Endangered Species Act to the Bureau of Land Management for thirteen timber sales in western Oregon. The environmental groups…