ELR Citation: ELR 20277
No(s). 1:09-cv-00003 (D. Alaska Dec 7, 2009)

A district court halted a timber sale in roadless areas of the Tongass National Forest pending the U.S. Forest Service's preparation of a supplemental EIS (SEIS). The Forest Service's failure to take a hard look of the significant changes in public costs and revenues for the timber sale and its failure to issue a SEIS disclosing this information to the public and decisionmakers was arbitrary under NEPA. For example, the EIS anticipated that the timber purchasers, not the taxpayers, would pay for the costs of road construction. But new information shows that the timber purchaser will pay $140,635 for the timber while taxpayers will spend $1,579,880 for road construction for the timber sale—approximately 11 times the purchase price for the timber. New information also shows that opportunities for local employment are also significantly lower than originally intended. Because providing the highest economic return to the federal government while meeting resource objectives was a significant factor in comparing alternatives and one of the main reasons for selecting the chosen alternative, the new economic information regarding the costs and benefits of the timber sale are "sufficiently significant" and require an SEIS. The Service was therefore enjoined from taking or allowing any further actions implementing the timber sale and associated roads construction contract until the required SEIS has been completed and a decision has been made whether to proceed with the project.