Kempthorne

Twenty years after the Merced River, which lies in the heart of the Yosemite National Park, was designated a Wild and Scenic River, and seventeen years after the National Park Service (“NPS”) was statutorily required to prepare a Comprehensive Management Plan (“CMP”) for the Merced Wild and Scenic River, the question whether NPS has developed a valid CMP is again before us. In 2003, we found certain deficiencies in an earlier CMP — the 2000 CMP — and remanded to the district court. See Friends of Yosemite Valley v. Norton, 348 F.3d 789 (9th Cir.2003) (Yosemite I). We clarified our opinion in Friends of Yosemite Valley v. Norton, 366 F.3d 731 (9th Cir.2004) (Yosemite II). On July 19, 2006, the district court ruled on cross-motions for summary judgment. It concluded that NPS continues to violate certain provisions of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (“WSRA”), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1271-1287 , and the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), 42 U.S.C. § 4321-4375 , as well as our instructions in Yosemite I and Yosemite II. Friends of Yosemite Valley v. Scarlett, 439 F.Supp.2d 1074 (E.D.Cal.2006).

Appellants Dirk Kempthorne, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Interior; the National…