Forest Guardians v. Mike Johanns, Secretary of Agriculture United States Forest Service

Forest Guardians appeals the district court’s determination that the United States Forest Service did not violate the Endangered Species Act when it failed to re-initiate consultation on the environmental impact of cattle grazing on a plot of national forest land in Arizona. Forest Guardians urges that the Forest Service was required to re-consult because it failed to comply with the agreed-upon criteria governing the monitoring of the grazing’s impact on endangered and threatened species living in the Water Canyon Allotment of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. We agree that the Forest Service’s failure to re-initiate consultation on Water Canyon violated the Endangered Species Act, and reverse the judgment of the district court.

I

Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) contains substantive and procedural provisions designed to protect species listed as threatened or endangered under the Act. The substantive provision relevant to this appeal is § 7, which prohibits federal agencies such as the Forest Service from taking discretionary actions that would “jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species or result in the…