Orleans Audubon Society, Sierra Club, Intervenor-Appellant v. Colonel Robert C. Lee, in His Official Capacity as District Engineer

E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge:

I

A

This environmental suit involves a 466-acre tract of cypress-tupelo gum swamp located on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. The tract is bounded on the northeast by a residential subdivision known as Lincoln-shire, on the west by the Drill Hole Canal, a small artificial canal constructed during the 1960s, and on the east by a levee, on the other side of which runs the Millaudon Canal. The tract is surrounded by levees constructed in 1972 by the owner of the property at that time. In late 1972 or early 1973, the Drill Hole…