Southwest Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Forest Service

The Southwest Center for Biological Diversity appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the United States Forest Service in Southwest Center’s action claiming that a proposed sale of salvage timber in the Coronado National Forest violates the Rescissions Act of 1995, Pub.L. No. 104-19, § 2001 , 109 Stat. 194 , 240-47. The Rescissions Act provides that the Secretary of Agriculture shall prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321-4335 , and a Biological Evaluation (BE) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-1544 , for each proposed salvage timber sale.

Southwest Center claims that (1) the Biological Assessment and Evaluation (BA & E) prepared by the Forest Service did not comply with the documentation requirements of the Rescissions Act; (2) the Forest Service’s conclusion in the BA & E that the timber sale would not affect the Mexican Spotted Owl is arbitrary and capricious; (3) the issuance of a categorical exclusion that exempted the sale from further analysis under NEPA was also arbitrary and capricious; and (4) the district court erred by granting the defendant’s…