ELR Citation: ELR 20056
No(s). 09-0686 (D. Idaho Feb 19, 2010)

A district court denied environmental groups’ motion for injunctive relief and found that the use of helicopters by the U.S. Forest Service to dart and collar wolves in the Frank Church Wilderness did not violate the Wilderness Act or NEPA. The Forest Service issued a special permit to the Idaho Department of Game and Fish (IDFG) to use helicopters to dart and collar wolves over a two-week period with a maximum of 20 landings. The flights coincided with IDFG’s annual big game survey. The court held that the collaring project and its use of helicopters are sufficiently limited and focused on restoring the wilderness character of the area such that they are necessary to meet the minimum requirements for the administration of the area as required under the Wilderness Act. And, even though the Forest Service did not conduct an EA or EIS, the collaring operation falls into the categorical exclusion for a “research activity” or “study” that is properly limited in context and intensity. Although the use of helicopters in a wilderness area is highly intrusive and controversial and must be deemed intense, their use appears to be properly limited so as to fall within the exclusion: the fly-overs are restricted to 20 landings over a two-week period during which fly-overs for the annual big game survey will be occurring. As well, the use of helicopters is designed to restore a specific aspect of the wilderness character of the Frank Church Wilderness that had been earlier destroyed by man. In this context, the helicopter flights for this particular operation are consistent with the exclusion.