In the Fall of 2023, the Interagency Working Group on Mining Laws, Regulations, and Permitting (“IWG”) released its final report containing recommendations to reform how mining is conducted on public lands (the “Final...more
The United States Forest Service (“Forest Service”) recently announced plans to amend all its land management plans for National Forest System units, affecting 128 plans in total. The Forest Service did so in a scoping notice...more
The Buffalo River Watershed Alliance (“BRWA”) filed a February 21st Complaint for Vacatur of Illegal Agency Decision, Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (“Complaint”) against the United States Forest Service (“Forest Service”)...more
The United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”), in a February 22nd appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho (“District Court”) addressed an issue arising out of United States...more
An agency must prepare an environmental impact statement when it fails to address expert scientific evidence that undermines its conclusions about a project’s environmental effects. An agency also must prepare an EIS when...more
The U.S. Forest Service has released narrowly tailored changes to update its procedures under the National Environmental Policy Act, in the wake of the Council on Environmental Quality’s recent overhaul of the NEPA...more
U.S. Forest Service finalizes rule weakening environmental review of its projects - Bullet The Hill – November 18 - The U.S. Forest Service this Wednesday finalized its decision to weaken environmental analysis of...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a U.S. Forest Service plan for commercial logging of some 4,700 acres of fire-damaged Mendocino National Forest could not reasonably be interpreted as falling within a NEPA...more
The greater sage-grouse is a chicken-like bird that is currently found in 11 western states. For more than 25 years, there has been considerable controversy concerning whether to list the greater sage-grouse for protection...more
On October 4, 2019, the Supreme Court granted review of a Fourth Circuit decision that rejected U.S. Forest Service authorization of a $7 billion natural gas pipeline. See Cowpasture River Pres. Assn v. Forest Service, 911...more
The Rosemont Copper Project suffered a shocking setback with a July 31, 2019 order issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in Center for Biological Diversity, et al., v. United States Fish & Wildlife...more
The United States Forest Service (“Service”) published a proposal in the June 13th Federal Register that contains a package of revisions to its National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) regulations. See 84 Fed. Reg. 27544. ...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Court”) addressed in a June 4th Order whether the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) and the United States Forest Service (“USFS”) approval of the...more
On June 13, the US Forest Service announced a proposal to streamline environmental review of proposed projects on National Forest System land. The proposed rule would modify the agency’s regulations implementing the National...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”) addressed in a November 29th Opinion National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) and Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) challenges to post-fire projects...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (“9th Circuit”) addressed issues associated with two United States Forest Service (“Forest Service”) fire salvage and restoration projects. See Alliance for the Wild Rockies v. Mary...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Court”) addressed in a June 8th opinion whether a community protection line (“CPL”) constructed during a wildfire is exempted from the requirement to prepare a...more
The $1.3 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, which was signed into law on March 23, 2018, (the Act) includes bipartisan measures to fundamentally change how the U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies pay...more
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the U.S. Forest Service could validly rely on proxy approaches in determining whether a forest restoration project would adversely impact pine marten and fisher populations in the...more
Report on the agencies’ review of programs provides a roadmap to understanding which energy policies the Trump administration will revise. Several federal agencies have now issued reports responding to Executive Order (EO)...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (“Court”) addressed in an October 23rd opinion Plaintiffs-Appellants Central Oregon LandWatch and WaterWatch of Oregon (collectively “Plaintiffs”) challenge to the United...more
On May 17, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana and upheld the U.S. Forest Service’s (Forest Service) decision to construct 4.7 miles...more
The U. S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina recently upheld approval by the U.S. Forest Service (“USFS”) of a recreational shooting range in North Carolina’s Nantahala National Forest. The case is...more
On July 27, 2015, D.C. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon entered a strongly worded order in Solenex LLC v. Jewell, chastising the defendants, including the Department of the Interior and numerous other federal agencies,...more
Nearly five years after issuing its initial draft, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) continues to revise its draft guidance on conducting greenhouse gas (GHG) impact analyses under the National...more