BREAKING NEWS
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Strike Three: Court Rejects Illegal National Forest Regulations for Third Time
SAN FRANCISCO— A federal court today ruled against the U.S. Forest Service in its third attempt to revise the rules that govern the 193-million acre national forest system. The court found that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act when it revised the regulations in 2008. The court has prohibited the Service from implementing the 2008 rules, and ordered to reinstate either the 1982 or 2000 versions of the regulations.
“Hopefully we can finally close this chapter of the Forest Service and work together with the Obama administration to develop rules that protect our national forests,” stated Marc Fink, attorney for Center for Biological Diversity and one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the case.
During the 1980s and ’90s, the Forest Service operated under nationwide regulations that provided mandatory protection for forest resources, including a requirement to ensure the viability of fish and wildlife species. These regulations governed all proposed projects — such as timber sales, livestock grazing, and road construction — throughout the national forest system. The Forest Service first attempted to weaken these nationwide regulations in 2000, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that the agency had violated the National Environmental Policy Act.
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Contact: Marc Fink
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