ELR Citation: 48 ELR 20139
No(s). 16-35589 (9th Cir. Jul 26, 2018)

The Ninth Circuit reversed in part and vacated in part a lower court decision granting summary judgment for a proposed logging project in areas of the Kootenai National Forest where two threatened species—the Canada lynx and the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear—are present. An environmental group argued that the U.S. Forest Service should have reinitiated consultation with FWS in determining the impact of project activities on lynx after FWS designated large areas of lynx critical habitat on national forest land, including the Kootenai National Forest. The appellate court disagreed, concluding that the Forest Service did reinitiate consultation with FWS while the group's appeal in this case was pending, and the reconsultation process was completed after oral argument when FWS issued a new biological opinion concerning lynx critical habitat.The group further argued that the Forest Service failed to comply with the Motorized Vehicle Access Act, which set standards for grizzly bear habitat on Forest Service land, when it approved the project. The court agreed, concluding that the Forest Service incorrectly calculated whether the project would go over the limits for road building in threatened grizzly bear habitat. The court therefore reversed the lower court's summary judgment as to the group's grizzly bear claim, vacated the summary judgment as to its lynx reconsultation claim, and remanded to the Forest Service for further proceedings.