ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20054
No(s). 21-35070 (9th Cir. May 6, 2022)

In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit concerning the Forest Service's 1987 plan for Custer Gallatin National Forest. An environmental group argued that NEPA obligated the Service to supplement its EIS for the plan after recognizing in 2012 that climate change necessitated updates to forest plans. The appellate court found that the 1987 plan was not "ongoing agency action" for purposes of NEPA, and thus that the Service was not required to conduct a supplemental analysis. The group also argued that recent events required the Service to supplement project-level NEPA analysis for three logging projects currently ongoing in the forest, but the court found the claims lacked merit. It affirmed dismissal of the suit.