Dombeck
Native Ecosystems Council v. Dombeck
Opinion
Concurrence in Part
Thompson, J.
Concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I agree with the majority that the Forest Service was not required to prepare a single EIS evaluating the cumulative impact of the proposed road density amendment for the Darroch-Eagle sale in conjunction with the potential similar amendments for the other Gallatin II timber sales. I do not agree, however, that the Forest Service acted arbitrarily and capriciously in limiting the scope of its cumulative impact analysis for the Darroch-Eagle EA to the Darroch Creek, Bear Creek, and North Fork Bear Creek drainages within the Bear Creek watershed northeast of Gardiner, Montana. Thus, I respectfully dissent from Part II.B of the opinion that requires a NEPA analysis of all reasonably foreseeable road density amendments throughout the Gallatin National Forest.
As explained by the Supreme Court in Kleppe v. Sierra Club, 427 U.S. 390 , 96 S.Ct. 2718 , 49 L.Ed.2d 576 (1976), “absent a showing of arbitrary action” we leave to the Forest Service the determination of the geographic region within which a cumulative impacts analysis is required. Id. at 412 , 96 S.Ct. 2718 . Our prior opinions have uniformly limited the scope of a cumulative impact…
Lead Opinion
Nelson, J.
Plaintiff environmental groups Native Ecosystems Council and Bear Creek Council (collectively, “Bear Creek”) seek *890 review of a timber sale slated to occur on national forest lands in Montana. They appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants, who are officials within the United States government responsible for approving the timber sale.
We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . Because the United States Forest Service did not consider the cumulative impacts of some aspects of the sale sufficiently to satisfy the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq., and did not comply with the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq., we reverse.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
The Darroch-Eagle timber sale is proposed to occur on 226 acres of the Gallatin National Forest in Montana, located on the northern boundary of Yellowstone National Park. The project area supports grizzly bears, bighorn sheep, elk, mule deer, moose, mountain lions, and wolves, among other wildlife. The sale would harvest approximately 2.1 million board feet of timber.