The Ninth Circuit held that the U.S. Forest Service exceeded the scope of its authority under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act by charging fees to those who drive to Mount Lemmon, park their cars, and then picnic, hike, or camp in nearby undeveloped areas. The Act authorizes the Forest S...

A district court granted an environmental group's motion for reconsideration and overturned its previous decision upholding the DOI's "Counterpart ESA §7 Consultation Regulations" for National Fire Plan (NFP) projects. The government's rationale for proposing the rule in the first instance was ...

The Ninth Circuit reversed in part and affirmed in part a lower court decision that U.S. Forest Service complied with NEPA and the APA when it amended the Sierra Nevada forest plan in 2004. In stark contrast to the 2001 EIS, which contained a 64-page detailed analysis of the environmental conseq...

The Ninth Circuit remanded the U.S. Forest Service's 2006 travel management plan for the Gallatin National Forest. The Montana Wilderness Study Act of 1977 requires the Service to ensure that current users of a wilderness study area are able to enjoy the wilderness character of the area as it existe...

A district court upheld a NMFS biological opinion (BiOp) concluding that EPA's registration decisions under FIFRA for three insecticides—chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion—were likely to jeopardize the continued existence of 27 protected species of salmon and steelhead fish and would destroy o...