The Smokey Wire : National Forest News and Views
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I wanted to wrap up the latest before my own “blogging break.” Not a lot where the Forest Service is a party, and mostly related to the Endangered Species Act, but should be relevant and hopefully interesting. FOREST SERVICE Helena-Lewis & Clark NF Middleman Project New lawsuit On September 25, Native Ecosystems Council and Alliance … Read more
FOREST SERVICE Coronado NF mines Court decision in Patagonia Area Resource Alliance v. U. S. Forest Service (D. Ariz.) On September 1, the district court denied a preliminary injunction against the Sunnyside and Flux Canyon exploratory drilling projects in the Patagonia Mountains on the Coronado National Forest. The Sunnyside Project is a seven-year exploratory drilling … Read more
Please add your favorites from the week in the comments below. Firing Operations During the 2012 Dixie Fire Firing operations are one of the main tools firefighters have at their disposal to corral large fires once they have escaped initial attack, but putting fire on the ground at the peak of fire season, often during … Read more
NATIONAL FOREST CASES Uinta Basin Railway Court decision in Eagle County v. Surface Transportation Board (D.C. Cir.) On August 18, the circuit court reversed a decision by the Board to allow construction of the Uinta Basin Railway connecting oil fields in Utah to a railroad along the Colorado River by 88 miles of track through the Ashley … Read more
I left some recent mining cases out of this one – to follow in a separate post. Freedom of Information Act Court decision in Friends of the River v. U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (D. D.C.) On June 21, the district court required the Corps to release documents about dam operations that it had … Read more
AP had an interesting story about the reintroduction of wolves on Isle Royale, a National Park that is an island. Wolves apparently had only been there since the 1940’s. Even in Wilderness, there are disagreements about when intervention should occur and to what end. Scientists believe the island’s first moose swam to Isle Royale around … Read more
A number of high-level court decisions here. Colville NF Bulldog project: Complaint.FINAL.FILE.STAMPED New lawsuit: Kettle Range Conservation Group v. Smolden (E.D. Wash.) On May 12, the plaintiff challenged the Bulldog logging, thinning and prescribed burning project on close to 44,000 acres over many years on the Colville National Forest. The area is considered a stronghold … Read more
CLEVER HEADLINE AWARD: “C’est levee: Coconino NF has no plans to repair Lower Lake Mary levee.” FEATURED RECOMMENDATIONS Some federal court cases are heard by a “magistrate” judge, who then makes recommendations to the judge who will formally issue an opinion. I haven’t often seen the judge change the recommended outcome of a case. (Maybe … Read more
National Scenic River easement State court decision in McGibney v. Missouri Department of Natural Resources (Missouri Court of Appeals) The Forest Service holds a conservation easement near the Mark Twain National Forest along the Eleven Point River where it has been designated a Scenic River under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. In a … Read more
FEATURED LAWSUIT: Sage-grouse, research natural areas, grazing and land use plans Court decision in Oregon Natural Desert Association v. Bushue (D. Or.) On December 7, the district court held that the BLM is required by its resource management plan to close 13 research natural areas (RNAs) to grazing in southeastern Oregon. That requirement was … Read more