Description: Lawsuit alleging violations of the National Environmental Policy Act for failure to prepare supplemental analyses of national forest plans and projects in light of new information about climate change.
-
Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. Marten
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 05/06/2022 Memorandum Download Dismissal affirmed. Ninth Circuit Said Forest Service Did Not Have to Update 1987 Forest Plan to Address Climate Change. In an unpublished decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit that alleged that the U.S. Forest Service should have supplemented the environmental impact statement for the 1987 Gallatin Forest Plan after the Forest Service amended its regulations in 2012 to recognize that climate change necessitated updates to forest plans. Although the Ninth Circuit did not agree that the Forest Service’s completion of a revised forest plan in February 2022 mooted this claim, the court agreed with the Forest Service that the 1987 plan was not “ongoing major Federal action” pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Supplemental NEPA analysis therefore was not required. The Ninth Circuit also rejected arguments that recent events, including the Forest Service’s decision to revise the forest plan, required supplemental NEPA analysis for three ongoing logging projects. -
Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. Marten
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 12/17/2020 Order Download Motion to dismiss granted. Federal Court Rejected Claims that Climate Change-Related Developments Necessitated Supplemental NEPA Review for Forest Plan and Projects. The federal district court for the District of Montana dismissed a lawsuit that sought to compel the U.S. Forest Service to supplement the 1987 forest plan for the Custer Gallatin National Forest and for three projects authorized under the forest plan. The court rejected arguments that new climate change research and a decision to revise the 1987 forest plan to address climate change triggered supplementation requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 07/21/2020 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Plaintiff Said Forest Service Should Have Conducted Supplemental Review Due to New Climate Change Information. A conservation group filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Montana asserting that the U.S. Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to prepare supplemental NEPA analysis in light of new scientific information regarding climate change. The plaintiffs alleged that the Forest Service approved a watershed project and a forest health project based on an environmental impact statement for a 1987 forest plan.