Pheasant

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 23-991 D.C. No. Plaintiff - Appellant, 3:21-cr-00024-

RCJ-CLB-

v.

GREGORY W. PHEASANT,

OPINION

Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada Robert Clive Jones, Senior District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted October 10, 2024 Las Vegas, Nevada

Filed February 19, 2025

Before: Carlos T. Bea, Mark J. Bennett, and Eric D. Miller, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Miller SUMMARY *

Criminal Law

The panel reversed the district court’s dismissal of a count charging Gregory W. Pheasant with driving an off- road vehicle on public lands at night without a taillight, in violation of 43 C.F.R. § 8341.1(f)(5), and remanded. Section 8341.1(f)(5) was adopted by the Secretary of the Interior under authority vested in him by section 303(a) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), which directs the Secretary to “issue regulations necessary to implement the provisions of [the FLPMA] with respect to the management, use, and protection of the public lands, including the…