ELR Citation: 54 ELR 20098
No(s). CV 22-96-M-DLC (D. Mont. Jun 28, 2024) (Christensen, J.)

A district court adopted in part, modified in part, and rejected in part a magistrate judge's findings and recommendations in a challenge to FWS' biological opinion (BiOp) for Flathead National Forest's 2018 revised land management plan. Environmental groups argued FWS and the Forest Service violated the ESA by failing to consider threats to grizzly bears and bull trout. The magistrate judge recommended that summary judgment be granted in part and denied in part for the groups, and that the revised BiOp be remanded without vacatur for further consideration. The court found the groups were entitled to summary judgment on their claims regarding grizzly bears insofar as FWS failed to address the exclusion of unauthorized motor use from road density calculations and offered an explanation for its decision to exclude impassable roads from total motorized route density that ran counter to the evidence before it, and on their claims regarding bull trout insofar as FWS failed to address its decision to abandon the culvert removal requirement with respect to impassable roads. It further found the groups were entitled to summary judgment insofar as the Forest Service relied on the flawed provisions of the revised BiOp. The court remanded the revised BiOp without vacatur to the agencies for further consideration.