ELR Citation: ELR 20223
No(s). 04-15746 (9th Cir. Nov 6, 2006)

The court held that the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act in extending certain leases on land considered sacred to Native American tribes and in approving a geothermal plant to be built there by a California power company. The agencies failed to take a "hard look" at the environmental consequences of the lease extensions, and they never adequately considered the no-action alternative before approving the project. The agencies also violated the National Historic Preservation Act and their fiduciary obligations to the tribes in extending the leases. And because the rest of the project approval process was premised on the power company’s possession of a valid right to develop the land, the entire approval must be set aside.