Sierra Club v. Robertson
| Citation | 28 F.3d 753 |
| Decision Date | 23 June 1994 |
| Docket Number | 92-3796,Nos. 92-3701,s. 92-3701 |
| Parties | , 24 Envtl. L. Rep. 21,596 SIERRA CLUB; Jerry Williams; Defenders of the Ouachita Forest; Sherry Balkenhol; Bill Greer; Stan Heard; Plaintiffs-Appellants, Ouachita Watch League; Concerned Citizens, of Hot Springs; Beth Johnson; Intervenors-Appellants, State of Arkansas, Intervenor, v. F. Dale ROBERTSON, Chief, USDA Forest Service; John E. Alcock; John M. Curran, Supervisor, Ouachita National Forest; Larry Theivagt; George Landrum; Paul Fuller; Don Monk; John Archer; James Watson; Robert Raines; Douglas Webb; Eugene Hayes, in his official capacity as Fourche District Ranger, USDA Forest Service; Defendants-Appellees. Arkansas Forestry Association; Ouachita National Forest Timber Purchasers Group; Region 8 Forest Service Timber Purchasers Council, Intervenors-Appellees. SIERRA CLUB; Jerry Williams; Defenders of the Ouachita Forest; Sherry Balkenhol; Bill Greer; Stan Heard; Plaintiffs, Ouachita Watch League; Concerned Citizens, of Hot Springs; Beth Johnson; Intervenor, State of Arkansas, Intervenor-Appellant, v. F. Dale ROBERTSON, Chief, USDA Forest Service; John E. Alcock; John M. Curran, Supervisor, Ouachita National Forest; Larry Theivagt; George Landrum; Paul Fuller; Don Monk; John Archer; James Watson; Robert Raines; Douglas Webb; Eugene Hayes, in his official capacity as Fourche District Ranger, USDA Forest Service; Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Mary Rowlins, Mena, AR, argued, for appellant.
Robert Klarquist, Washington, DC, argued (Myles E. Flint, Martin W. Matzen, David F. Shuey and Robert L. Klarquist, on the brief), for Federal appellees (Searcy W. Harrell, Jr., Camden, AR, and Steven P. Quarles and Thomas R. Lundquist, Washington, DC, on the brief), for Timber appellees.
Before BOWMAN, WOLLMAN, and MAGILL, Circuit Judges.
The Sierra Club and various other organizations and individuals (the Sierra Club), together with the State of Arkansas, sought judicial review of the United States Forest Service's Amended Land and Resource Management Plan for the Ouachita National Forest (the Plan). As part of this litigation, the Sierra Club petitioned the District Court 1 for a preliminary injunction barring the Forest Service from proceeding with two proposed timber sales in the Ouachita. The District Court denied a preliminary injunction with respect to both of the proposed sales and, in a later review of the merits of the Plan, granted the Forest Service's motion for summary judgment. The Sierra Club and the State of Arkansas appeal these orders.
The Ouachita National Forest consists of approximately 1.6 million acres located in west-central Arkansas and southeast Oklahoma. Pursuant to a number of interconnected congressional directives, the Secretary of Agriculture is entrusted with the responsibility of administering vast expanses of national forests. 2 Among these is the Ouachita.
The National Forest Management Act (NFMA), 16 U.S.C. Secs. 1600-1614 (1988 & Supp. IV 1992), directs the Secretary to "develop, maintain, and, as appropriate, revise land and resource management plans [LRMPs] for units of the National Forest System." 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1604(a) (1988). An LRMP must establish the overall management direction for the forest unit for ten to fifteen years. Thus, an LRMP is, in essence, a programmatic statement of intent that establishes basic guidelines and sets forth the planning elements that will be employed by the Forest Service in future site-specific decisions.
In preparing an LRMP, the Forest Service must comply with the myriad concurrent statutes or regulations that NFMA, by direct or indirect reference, incorporates. Section 6(e)(1) of NFMA, 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1604(e)(1) (1988), mandates that LRMPs provide for multiple use and sustained yield of the products and services of the National Forest System unit consistent with the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act, 16 U.S.C. Secs. 528-531 (1988). This Act requires that the national forests "be administered for outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, and wildlife and fish purposes." 16 U.S.C. Sec. 528.
Moreover, the LRMPs must be developed in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. Secs. 4321-4347 (1988 & Supp. IV 1992). NEPA requires an environmental impact statement (EIS) from all agencies contemplating "major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment." 42 U.S.C. Sec. 4332(2)(C)(i) (1988). Accordingly, the regulations promulgated by the Forest Service provide that an LRMP must be accompanied by a draft and final EIS. 36 C.F.R. Sec. 219.10(b) (1993).
The Forest Service has issued regulations pursuant to NFMA. See id. Secs. 219.1-.29 (1993); see generally Citizens For Envtl. Quality v. United States, 731 F.Supp. 970, 977-78 (D.Colo.1989). These regulations describe the method for developing an LRMP. Procedurally, this involves a two-stage process. First, a team under the command of the Forest Supervisor develops a proposed LRMP along with a draft and final EIS. 36 C.F.R. Sec. 219.10(a)-(b). To satisfy NEPA, plan drafters must formulate and evaluate a broad range of alternative management scenarios with the goal of "identifying the alternative that comes nearest to maximizing net public benefits." Id. Sec. 219.12(f). The Regional Forester then reviews the proposal and either approves or disapproves it. Id. Sec. 219.10(c). An approved plan and final EIS are supplemented by the Regional Forester's record of decision.
At stage two, individual site-specific projects are proposed and assessed using the LRMP. The Forest Service must ensure that all projects are consistent with the plan. 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1604(i) (1988). Additional NEPA analysis is conducted to determine the effects of the specific project and to consider alternative actions. See 36 C.F.R. Sec. 219.16.
The LRMP and accompanying final EIS for the Ouachita National Forest were released in 1986. The Forest Service issued the Plan and final supplement to the final EIS (SEIS), which contained thirteen alternative management scenarios, in 1990. A land management alternative based on the Plan and the SEIS was selected in March 1990. A separate EIS concerning vegetation management in the Ozark, St. Francis, and Ouachita Mountains was prepared concurrently and adopted along with the Plan, as was a vegetation management program pursuant to a record of decision (VMROD) that amended the Plan's approach to herbicide use.
The Sierra Club filed an administrative appeal to the Forest Service regarding these decisions. The Chief of the Forest Service upheld the Plan, the SEIS, the vegetation management EIS, and the VMROD in April 1991. The Sierra Club and others then brought suit in the District Court for the Western District of Arkansas challenging the Plan as violative of the governing statutes and regulations.
In 1988 the Forest Service issued a Decision Notice that concluded that proposed timber sales slated for the Oden region of the Ouachita would be consistent with the 1986 Plan and its governing statutes. In 1990 the Forest Service issued a Decision Notice to the same effect regarding proposed timber sales in the Choctaw region of the Ouachita. None of the appellants filed a timely administrative appeal to the Oden sales. One of the appellants filed for administrative review of the Choctaw sales. When the 1986 Plan was revised in 1990, the Forest Service completed and released an Environmental Assessment Supplement that concluded that the proposed timber sales remained consistent with the Plan and its governing statutes and that no additional EIS was required.
In July 1991 the Sierra Club petitioned the court for a preliminary injunction barring the Forest Service from proceeding with the Oden and Choctaw sales, arguing that the Forest Service improperly denied the Club the right to an administrative review. The motion was denied. In November 1991 the Sierra Club again moved for a preliminary injunction barring the Oden and Choctaw sales, this time arguing that the timber sales violated the statutes governing the Plan and were arbitrary and capricious. This motion also was denied. Sierra Club v. Robertson, 784 F.Supp. 593 (W.D.Ark.1991).
The two proposed timber sales aside, the Sierra Club sought judicial review of the Plan under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. Secs. 701-706 (1988), making several claims that the Plan violates both NFMA and NEPA. After this Court ruled that the State of Arkansas had the right to intervene, Sierra Club v. Robertson, 960 F.2d 83 (8th Cir.1992), the District Court allowed the Arkansas Forestry Association and other entities (the Timber Appellees) to intervene on the side of the Forest Service. Both sides moved for summary judgment. On October 22, 1992, the District Court granted judgment in favor of the Forest Service and the Timber Appellees, finding that the Plan satisfies the directives of both NFMA and NEPA. Sierra Club v. Robertson, 810 F.Supp. 1021 (W.D.Ark.1992). On the same day, the District Court denied the Sierra Club's motion for leave to file a second supplemental complaint. This appeal followed.
The Sierra Club appeals the District Court's denial of the Club's motions for a preliminary injunction barring the Oden and Choctaw timber sales 3 and the court's denial of the Club's motion for leave to file a second supplemental complaint. In addition, the Sierra Club and the State of Arkansas argue that the District Court erred in granting summary judgment to the appellees on the merits of the Plan.
The notice of appeal filed in this case flags, inter alia, the District Court's denial of the Sierra Club's requests for a preliminary injunction as to the Oden and Choctaw timber sales. In its first attempt to enjoin the Oden and Choctaw sales, the Sierra Club argued that a preliminary...
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