Gutierrez

ORDER

Defendants conceded in their opening brief, at oral argument and in their supplemental brief that they do not *906 challenge the only form of relief the district court granted' — -the permanent injunction. Rather, they seek appellate excision of the district court’s ruling that the National Marine Fisheries Services’s (NMFS) May 30, 2002 Biological Opinion (BiOp) violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Essentially they want us to line-edit the district court’s ruling. But they have no standing to challenge the district court’s legal rulings in the abstract; they must seek a reversal or a modification of the relief granted by the district court. See Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona, 520 U.S. 43, 64 , 117 S.Ct. 1055 , 137 L.Ed.2d 170 (1997) (“The standing Article III requires must be met by persons seeking appellate review, just as it must be met by persons appearing in courts of first instance.”).

To have standing on appeal, defendants must establish that “it is likely, as opposed to merely speculative, that [their] injury will be redressed by a favorable decision.” See Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Envtl. Servs. (TOC), Inc., 528 U.S. 167, 181 , 120…