Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics v. United States Forest Service

MEMORANDUM ***

Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics (“FSEEE”) appeals the denial of its motion for a preliminary injunction. FSEEE sought to prevent the Forest Service from continuing timber sales related to the Biscuit Fire Recovery Project, alleging that the Forest Service was not properly marking riparian reserves, and was not properly monitoring its own marking activities. The district court denied the preliminary injunction because there was not a serious question about whether the Forest Service was properly marking riparian reserves, and neither the balance of harms nor the public interest favored an injunction. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292 , and affirm.

The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying injunctive relief. Regardless of whether the First Amended Complaint clearly alleged a monitoring claim, the Forest Service produced evidence indicating it was monitoring riparian buffering and therefore the court did not err when it determined that the monitoring claim was not likely to succeed. Thomas Link sufficiently challenged the allegations of Richard Nawa thereby supporting the district court’s determination that FSEEE’s…