Description: Challenge to project authorizing 2,485 acres of timber harvest in Wayne National Forest in southeast Ohio.
-
Ohio Environmental Council v. U.S. Forest Service
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 03/30/2023 Opinion and Order Download Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment granted in part and denied in part and defendants' motion for summary judgment granted in part and denied in part. Ohio Federal Court Ruled for Plaintiff on NEPA Challenge to Timber Harvest Project but Said Forest Service Responded Adequately to Climate Change Issue. An Ohio federal court briefly mentioned climate change in its decision on National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and National Forest Management Act (NFMA) claims challenging a project that authorized 2,485 acres of timber harvest in Wayne National Forest in southeast Ohio. The court found that the U.S. Forest Service responded adequately to issues the plaintiff raised about the project’s impact on fungal networks and their role in “carbon storage and sequestration … and [] forest health and resiliency in the face of climate change.” The court ruled for the plaintiff on other aspects of its NEPA claim but denied the plaintiff’s NFMA claim.