Swanson

Appellants John Swanson and Idaho Sportsmen’s Coalition (“ISC”) challenge the decision of the Appellee United States Forest Service to authorize timber sales and road construction within the Cove and Mallard drainages of the Nez Perce National Forest. ISC maintains that in authorizing the sales, the Forest Service failed to comply with the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), 1 the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), the National Forest Management Act (“NFMA”), and the Clean Water Act (“CWA”). The district court granted summary judgment on all but the Clean Water Act claims, and dismissed those claims for failure to give notice to the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”). We affirm the judgment of the district court.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Nez Perce National Forest is a 2.2 million acre national forest in Idaho County, Idaho. Within the forest are two adjacent areas known as the Cove and Mallard drain-ages; it was within these drainages that the Forest Service authorized the timber sales and the road construction being challenged in this matter.

Before authorizing the sales, however, the Forest Service attempted to gauge the impact that the proposed timber…