United States Ninth Circuit

In an environmental group's suit against the U.S. Forest Service (Service) and its officials, claiming that the agency's environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project, which allows logging and controlled burning on roughly 2,500 acres of a National Forest in central Oregon, fails to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the district court's grant of summary judgment for the Service is affirmed where: 1) given the purpose of the Research Act, the project's location in an experimental forest, and the considerable discretion afforded to agencies in this area, the EIS's statement of purpose and need is reasonable; 2) plaintiffs have failed to identify a viable but unexamined alternative that would satisfy both the goals of reducing the risk of beetle infestation and wildfire; and 3) the EIS is adequately supported by scientific data and takes a hard look at the significant impacts of the project.

Appellate Information

• Decided 07/30/2012
• Published 07/30/2012

Judges

• Fletcher

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel