ELR Citation: ELR 20501
No(s). 93-35676 (9th Cir. Jan 24, 1994)

The court holds that the U.S. Forest Service's (Service's) final environmental impact statement (EIS) for proposed road construction projects and timber sales, for the purpose of salvaging stands of beetle-infested lodgepole pine in the Kootenai National Forest in Montana, was adequate under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act. The court holds that the Service properly considered only proposed timber sales at the time it prepared the final EIS, because NEPA, along with regulations at 40 C.F.R. §1508.7 requiring the Service to consider cumulative impacts, apply only to agency actions that are proposed and not merely contemplated. The court holds that the timber sales not yet proposed are not sufficiently definite to require their inclusion in the EIS.

Counsel for Plaintiffs
Charles Sheroke
Idaho Legal Aide
P.O. Box 1439, Coeur d'Alene ID 83816
(208) 667-9559

Counsel for Defendants
Robert Klarquist
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000

Lovell, J. (before Wright, Canby, and Nelson, JJ.):