Forest Guardians v. Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (“APHIS”) and the United States Forest Service have been killing mountain lions in the Santa Teresa Wilderness to protect private livestock. A coalition of conservation organizations and one individual (“Forest Guardians”) sought to enjoin this practice on the ground that it violates the Wilderness Act. Forest Guardians also claimed that APHIS and the Forest Service failed to conduct adequate environmental studies — as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) — before deciding to kill the mountain lions. The district court granted summary judgment to the federal defendants. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

In 1984, Congress designated an area of the Coronado National Forest in Arizona as the Santa Teresa Wilderness. See Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984, Pub.L. No. 98-406, § 101 (a)(23), 98 Stat. 1485 . In May 1997, the Regional Forester delegated authority to APHIS to perform predator control in wilderness areas, including the Santa Teresa Wilderness, to “prevent serious losses of domestic livestock.” The Regional Forester defined “serious loss” as “a determination made by APHIS or State Game and Fish after…