The Tenth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service may charge visitors to Mt. Evans an "amenity fee" under the Recreation Enhancement Act (REA). Plaintiffs, outdoor enthusiasts, argued that the fee exceeds the Service's statutory authority under the REA. But to prevail in a facial challenge to an a...

The Ninth Circuit held that environmental groups may intervene in a citizen suit against the U.S. Forest Service concerning restricted motorized and mechanized vehicle use in a section of the Gallatin National Forest. In the underlying action, the citizens group argued that the Forest Service's plan...

A district court set aside a U.S. Forest Service rule exempting the Tongass National Forest—the nation's largest—from the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The court ruled that the exemption was arbitrary and capricious because the Forest Service failed to provide a rational basis for temporarily...

A district court, on motions for summary judgment, held that the California Department of Transportation is liable to the United States for damages caused to a lake and creek due to runoff from a state-run highway that cuts across federal property—the Presidio in San Francisco. A 1938 permit autho...

A district court held that the U.S. Forest Service's travel management plan for the Salmon-Challis National Forest violates NEPA. Environmental groups argued that the travel plan fails to ensure that motor vehicle use is properly sited and managed on the Forest in order to minimize adverse environme...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court order denying an environmental group's motion to preliminarily enjoin the U.S. Forest Service from conducting post-wildfire logging in the Plumas National Forest. The group argued that the Forest Service violated the NFMA because it failed to ensure the viabi...

A district court held that the U.S. Forest Service's Public Wheeled Motorized Travel Management Decision for the Eldorado National Forest violated the ESA and the National Forest Management Act. The decision designates specific roads and trails within the forest as open to public motor vehicle ...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part a lower court decision largely granting summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Forest Service on environmental groups' and California's NEPA and NFMA claims challenging the agency's 2004 Sierra Nevada forest plan amendment and a timber harve...

A district court reinstated the roadless area conservation rule to the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska. The court previously ruled on motions for summary judgment that a U.S. Forest Service rule exempting the Tongass from the roadless rule's prohibitions was arbitrary and capricious. ...

The Eighth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service's revised forest plan for the Superior National Forest complied with NEPA. The environmental groups that filed the suit have standing, given the immediate, concrete consequences for the recreational interests of specific visitors to the Su...