Foundation for North American Wild Sheep v. United States Department of Agriculture

Appellant Foundation for North American Wild Sheep 1 brought this action, premised on National Environmental Policy Act [NEPA] § 102 [codified at 42 U.S.C. § 4332 ], challenging appellee United States Forest Service’s 2 decision not to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement [EIS] pri- or to granting a special use permit to Curtis Tungsten, Inc. [Curtis] allowing the reconstruction and use of Road 2N06. The District Court granted the Service’s 3 motion for summary judgment, holding, inter alia, that the service had taken a “hard look” at the problem and reasonably concluded that no EIS was required. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . 4 Because we conclude that the Service’s decision not to prepare an EIS was unreasonable, we reverse and remand for further administrative proceedings.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Curtis owns and operates a tungsten mine located in the San Gabriel Mountains in the Angeles National Forest. Access to this mining operation may be had only by *1175 way of either of two roads: Road 2N06, also known as the Coldwater Canyon Truck Trail, and Road 2N09. Both roads pass through federally controlled forest land in the Angeles National…