Decisions of the day. Today, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Bering Straits Citizens for Responsible Resource Development v. US Army Corps of Engineers, affirming the permissibility of the Army Corps' decision to grant a Clean Water Act permit to an open-pit gold mine near Nome, Alaska that will result in the loss of 170 acres of wetlands. The permit belatedly (i.e. after suit had already been filed in district court) took into account criticisms of the original permit decision by the EPA and the US Fish & Wildlife Service, but stopped short of fully taking into consideration all feasible alternatives.