Forest Conservation Council v. United States Forest Service

MEMORANDUM *

Appellants Forest Conservation Council et al. appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the United States Forest Service (“USFS”) on their claim USFS violated the National Forest Management Act (“NFMA”), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1600 et seq., and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (“NEPA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq., in failing to monetize nontimber resources when USFS authorized four timber sales from four national forests. We affirm.

The NFMA establishes a two-step process for forest planning. See Native Ecosystems Council v. United States Forest Serv., 418 F.3d 953 , 957 n. 1 (9th Cir.2005). First, USFS develops and maintains a forest plan, or Land Resource Management Plan (“LRMP”), that determines what outputs a national forest shall produce. See 16 U.S.C. § 1604 (a); Native Ecosystems Council, 418 F.3d at 957 n. 1. Second, USFS implements the LRMP by approv *75 ing or disapproving site-specific acts such as timber sales that are consistent with the LRMP. See 16 U.S.C. § 16040 ); Native Ecosystems Council, 418 F.3d at 957 n. 1. Nothing in the NFMA or the regulations USFS promulgated in 1982 requires site-specific analyses to monetize…