ELR Citation: 54 ELR 20147
No(s). 21-cv-07071-SI (N.D. Cal. Oct 15, 2024) (Illston, J.)

A district court granted in part and denied in part summary judgment in environmental groups' challenge to BLM's approval of land management plans designating route networks for off-highway vehicles (OHVs) in the western Mojave Desert. The groups argued the 2019 OHV route network violated FLPMA, NEPA, and the ESA. The court concluded the network did not comply with minimization criteria because the record did not affirmatively demonstrate how BLM designated OHV routes with the objective of minimizing impacts on the threatened desert tortoise, Lane Mountain milk-vetch, and other resources, and because the Bureau improperly relied on optional, post-designation mitigation measures to satisfy its obligation to designate routes that complied with regulatory criteria. It further concluded FWS violated the ESA by relying on BLM's optional mitigation measures to avoid "jeopardy" to the desert tortoise and ignoring best available science in reaching its "no jeopardy" findings. But it found BLM's supplemental EIS adequately discussed environmental impacts, and that the Bureau explored a reasonable range of alternatives. It granted in part and denied in part summary judgment for both the groups and the agencies.