ELR Citation: ELR 20158
No(s). 08-15112 (9th Cir. Jul 21, 2009)

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision upholding the National Park Service's (NPS') management plan for the Colorado River that permits the continued use of motorized rafts and support equipment in Grand Canyon National Park. Environmental groups argued that such motorized activities impair the wilderness character of the Canyon and that NPS' decision is arbitrary and capricious under the APA. They asserted that it violates the NPS' own management policies as well as various federal statutes. But the agency's 2001 policies requiring the NPS to treat the Colorado River Corridor as wilderness or potential wilderness are not enforceable against the NPS. The policies do not prescribe substantive rules and were not promulgated in conformance with the procedures of the APA. Moreover, the NPS complied with the NPS Organic Act, the NPS Concessions Act, and NEPA in promulgating the management plan. In sum, the group simply failed to satisfy the high threshold required to set aside federal agency actions under the APA.