United States Ninth Circuit
Southeast Alaska Conservation Counsel v. US Forest Serv., 15-35232
In an action alleging that the U.S. Forest Service violated the National Forest Management Act by approving either the Big Thorne logging project or the 2008 Tongass Forest Plan under which Big Thorne was authorized, the district court's summary judgment in favor of the U.S. is affirmed where: 1) the Plan's provision pertaining to sustainability was discretionary; 2) because the Forest Service was only obligated to consider sustainability 'where possible,' there was no law to apply in second-guessing the agency; 3) there is no authority compelling the agency to set a specific standard or benchmark for protecting the viability of a species that was neither endangered nor threatened; and 4) the Big Thorne Project was consistent with the Forest Plan.
Appellate Information
- Published 2017/05/23
Judges
- KOZINSKI
Court
- United States Ninth Circuit