Sierra Nevada MIS

Date Filed: 9/9/2008
Case Status: Active

Sierra Forest Legacy v. Pendleton

Challenge to the USDA Forest Service's adoption of an amendment to the forest plans for ten National Forests in California's Sierra Nevada reducing requirements for monitoring management indicator species (MIS) affected by activities on those forests.

On August 27, the federal court for the Northern District of California rejected our challenge to the Forest Service’s NEPA and ESA compliance in its approval of the Management Indicator Species Amendment for the Sierra Nevada National Forests.  Although Judge Conti ruled for us on a number of jurisdictional issues (finding among other things that we had standing and that the case was ripe for review), he found that the limits of foreseeability in the adaptive management context of management indicator species monitoring justified the Forest Service's limited NEPA analysis and refusal to undergo ESA Section 7 consultation.  We have appealed this decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.