ELR Citation: 55 ELR 20054
No(s). 24-1422 (9th Cir. May 2, 2025)

The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part summary judgment for the Forest Service in a challenge to approval of a forest thinning project in Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. A conservation group argued the Service was required under NEPA to repeat the public comment process after a fire in the forest led to changes between the draft and final EA, that the EA was insufficient, and that an EIS was required. The court held the Service was not required to repeat the public comment process because there was "an absence of evidence" that the fire posed new environmental questions or rendered comments on the draft EA irrelevant. It further held the Service considered a reasonable range of alternatives, but that the EA violated NEPA by not considering a nearby restoration project in its cumulative impacts analysis. It remanded to the district court to require the Service to remedy the deficiency in the EA and to determine whether an EIS was necessary in light of its revised cumulative effects analysis.