The Smokey Wire : National Forest News and Views
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Thanks to Matt Koehler for this submission.. For Immediate Release, October 12, 2011 Contact: Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, (928) 310-6713 Erik Ryberg, Western Watersheds Project, (520) 622-3333 Court Slams Forest Service’s Refusal to Monitor Southwestern Endangered Species TUCSON, Ariz.— A federal judge on Tuesday sided with the Center for Biological Diversity and Western … Read more
Proposed changes to the NFMA planning rule species viability provision were presented to the public at last week’s National Roundtable on the proposed planning rule in Washington D.C. The viability provision, intended to fulfill the diversity requirement of the National Forest Management Act, has been the most contentious element of previous attempts to change the … Read more
It has been 40 years since public land laws have been systematically reviewed by a land law commission, the longest period ever separating their use. Much of the gridlock in how public lands are managed can be traced back to statutory language. Lawyers and policy-makers met at the University of Colorado Law Center in early June … Read more
There are even a few court opinions dealing with plan-level decisions! FOREST SERVICE Apache-Sitgreaves/Gila NF grazing Court decision in Western Watersheds Project v. Perdue (D. Ariz.) On September 29, the district court upheld the Stateline Project, reauthorizing livestock grazing for ten years on fourteen allotments on the Apache-Sitgreaves and Gila National Forests. Plaintiffs had argued … Read more
I’ve gotten a little behind. Colorado oil and gas leasing Settlement in Citizens for a Healthy Community v. U. S. Bureau of Land Management (D. Colo.) On August 11, the BLM settled another case against its resource management plan decisions involving oil and gas leasing. Under the agreement, BLM will complete an amendment process for … Read more
No Forest Service Summary since July 8. FOREST SERVICE AND BLM CASES Wild horse removal Court decision in Friends of Animals v. Culver (D. D.C.) On June 28, the district court found that the BLM had violated the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act with its 2019 decision to remove over ten years (instead of … Read more
A while back, a commenter asked for (if I remember correctly) visions for the future of the Forest Service. I thought back to the book “193 Million Acres: 32 Essays on the Future of the Agency” edited by our own Steve Wilent (and with essays by many TSW writers and friends). It was published in … Read more
Actually weekly again. The Forest Service summary is here: NFS Litigation Weekly October 29 2021 Email Shorter summaries below include a link to court documents. COURT DECISION 0001_20211025_FloridaDefendersEnivronment_v_ForestService_20_12046_11Cir_17_1128_MDFlorida_RodmanReservoir_OcalaNF Florida Defenders of the Environment v. U.S. Forest Service (11th Cir.) – On October 25, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision favorable to the … Read more
The Forest Service summary is here: NFS Litigation Weekly July 30 2021 Email (The last previous “weekly” summary was July 9.) COURT DECISIONS 0001_20210723_SGA_v_UnitedStates_04-786_USCourtFederalClaims_SacromentoAllotments_Lincoln_opinion_order Sacramento Grazing Association, Inc. v. United States (U.S. Court of Federal Claims) – On July 23, 2021 the U.S. Court of Federal Claims reconsidered the court’s 2017 liability determination that the … Read more
These recent case developments are evidently not covered in a Forest Service litigation summary. Rock Creek Mine Court decision (Forest Service): Ksanka Kupaq Xa’lcin v. U. S. fish and Wildlife Service (D. Mont., April 14, 2021) (The news release includes a link to the opinion.) The district court vacated the decision to permit construction of … Read more