The state of Louisiana is suing the state of California over its decision to ban the import and sale of alligator products.

In its recent lawsuit, Louisiana is alleging that California's ban will hurt the alligator products market, a vital part of Louisiana's economy, in addition to the marshlands that serve as habitat for the alligators and are preserved for raising them. The state argues that if California's ban goes into effect, “landowners will be forced to greatly reduce or cease their erosion control efforts because they will be unable to economically sustain those efforts, resulting in irreparable harm to their property as well as harm to Louisiana’s sovereign environmental interests in wetland preservation."

According to news reports, California banned alligator skins and meats in the 1970s but repeatedly has issued exceptions that allowed sales; the most recent exemption, scheduled to expire January 1, has not been renewed, prompting the lawsuit. The alligator ban was backed by a coalition of environmental and animal rights groups.

“California has nevertheless attempted to destroy the market for American alligator products notwithstanding the fact that no such alligators live in California," the lawsuit says.

According to Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries, over 300,000 alligators are harvested every year from both farm and wild sources.

—Source: journalstar.com

A Colorado man is suing a book author, claiming he was duped by the author's poem that contained clues to a lost treasure chest.

David Harold Hanson of Colorado Springs, Colorado, sued Forrest Fenn in U.S. District Court. Hanson is seeking $1.5 million, claiming Fenn deprived him of the treasure "by fraudulent statements." According to news reports, Fenn proffered a 24-line poem in his autobiography, "The Thrill of the Chase", that allegedly holds clues to the location of a treasure chest hidden in the Rocky Mountains. It's been reported that an estimated 350,000 people have gone in search of the treasure.

Hanson claims he followed the clues and arrived at the location where the hidden items were, but only after Fenn first issued "misleading clues" that led Hanson away from the the search area and then issued "additional clues" that benefitted someone else who "found the items in question."

Fenn, an 89-year-old Vietnam War veteran, says he hid a chest full of valuable goods in the wilderness in an effort to get people outdoors.

The search for Fenn’s treasure has spawned an annual Fennboree gathering of campers at Hyde Memorial State Park, at least two documentary films and hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles.

Fenn told news sources he was unaware of the lawsuit and has “received no correspondence from him [Hanson] that I know of.” He said the treasure remains where he hid it ten years ago.

Hanson said in his complaint that he came up with the $1.5 million figure because it is half of the lowest publicized amount of the value of the treasure chest’s belongings — $3 million.

He said once the real amount is discovered, “said sum may be significantly adjusted.”

—Source: Santafenewmexican.com

A man who states he is a vegan is suing Burger King because the meatless Impossible Burger he purchased was cooked on the same grill as meat products.

In a class action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida, plaintiff Phillip Williams claims the burger chain advertises its vegan option as meat-free, but it is contaminated by meat by-product left on the grill. Williams is accusing Burger King of false advertising - the Impossible Burger is touted as "100% Whopper, 0% Beef" - and benefiting monetarily from offering a vegan option that is not vegan.

According to Burger King's website, "guests looking for a meat-free option, a non-broiler method of preparation is available upon request."

Williams claims the drive-thru he visited in the Atlanta area did not note that the burger would be cooked alongside those containing meat and that if he had known he would not have bought it.

Williams claims he "suffered monetary damages in the amount that he paid to purchase" the Impossible Whopper.

—Source: CNN.com

An environmental group has put a railway company on notice of an impending lawsuit, charging the railway company with not doing enough to protect grizzly bears from being hit and killed by the trains.

Wildlife Guardians, supported by the Western Environmental Law Center, notified BNSF Railway Company that it would be filing a lawsuit accusing the company of negligently killing grizzly bears, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act,

According to news reports, five grizzlies were killed in October by railway activities in Montana. Allegedly a train struck a cow, which attracted five bears to the tracks; two bears died in train collisions and three were killed by cars nearby.

The 67-mile stretch of railway between West Glacier and Browning is where trains reportedly killed 29 grizzlies between 1980 and 2002, said Pete Frost, attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center. Slowing the trains down, ensuring carrion are promptly cleared from tracks, and perhaps scheduling trains to run during the day and not at feeding time might reduce trains killing grizzlies.

When a company's activities kill threatened species like the grizzly bear, it is legally required to propose solutions in a habitat conservation plan that then can lead to an incidental take permit, the groups said.

BNSF officials have said that crews work to remove carrion and spilled grain, which attracts bears, from the tracks.

—Source: Nationalparkstraveler.org