United States Ninth Circuit

In an action brought by the Sierra Club alleging that the U.S. Forest Service and Department of Agriculture violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by establishing a NEPA categorical exclusion for all fuel reduction projects up to 1,000 acres and certain prescribed burn projects on national forests in the U.S., summary judgment for defendants is reversed where defendants failed to properly assess the significance of the hazardous fuels reduction categorical exclusion, and thus failed to demonstrate that they made a "reasoned decision" to promulgate the categorical exclusion based on relevant factors and information.

Appellate Information

• Argued 04/16/2007
• Decided 12/05/2007
• Published 12/05/2007

Judges

• Before:  DAVID R. THOMPSON, ANDREW J. KLEINFELD, and SIDNEY R. THOMAS, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Eric. E. Huber, Boulder, CO, and Kristin Henry, San Francisco, CA, for the plaintiffs-appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Lisa L. Jones, Environment and Natural Resources Div., Dept. of Justice, Sacramento, CA, for defendants-appellees.