ELR Citation: 55 ELR 20122
No(s). 24-4542 (9th Cir. Aug 27, 2025)

The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for BLM's approval of a logging project in federally owned coastal Oregon forests. Environmental groups argued the project violated a resource management plan (RMP) governing the forests that protected marbled murrelets, in violation of FLPMA, and that BLM violated NEPA by failing to take a "hard look" at the impacts on marbled murrelets. A district court granted summary judgment for BLM, concluding the project did not violate the RMP because it did not involve actions “modifying nesting habitat or removing nesting structure,” and that the decision not to prepare an EIS was reasonable because the project was consistent with and tiered to the RMP. The appellate court found the term "modifying nesting habitat" in the RMP was ambiguous, that BLM's narrow interpretation of it was reasonable, that its interpretation was entitled to deference, and that the project fully conformed to the RMP under that interpretation. It further concluded BLM did not act arbitrarily or capriciously in preparing the EA and FONSI for the project. It affirmed summary judgment for BLM.