Usfs

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

FRIENDS OF THE INYO; No. 23-15492

WESTERN WATERSHEDS

PROJECT; CENTER FOR D.C. No. BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY; 2:21-cv-01955-

SIERRA CLUB, KJM-KJN

Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. OPINION

UNITED STATES FOREST

SERVICE; LEEANN MURPHY,

Defendants-Appellees,

KORE MINING, LTD.,

Intervenor-Defendant- Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California Kimberly J. Mueller, Chief District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted August 24, 2023 San Francisco, California

Filed May 21, 2024 Before: Patrick J. Bumatay, Lucy H. Koh, and Roopali H. Desai, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Desai; Dissent by Judge Bumatay

SUMMARY *

Environmental Law

The panel reversed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Forest Service and KORE Mining Ltd. in an action brought by environmental groups challenging the Forest Service’s approval of the Long Valley Exploration Drilling Project, a mineral exploration project on land in the Inyo National…