Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Bergland, No. 75-3477

• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)
• Writing for the Court: Before WRIGHT and CHOY; WEIGEL
• Citation: 576 F.2d 1377
• Parties: FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, INC., a New York Corporation, Edward Dobson, Randall H. Gloege, Chuck Davis and Dr. J. H. Johnson, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Bob BERGLAND, 1 in his official capacity as Secretary of Agriculture, John R. McGuire, in his official capacity as Chief, U. S. Forest Service, Steve Yurich, in his official capacity as Regional Forester, Region 1, U. S. Forest Service, Dan MacIntyre, in his official capacity as Forest Supervisor, Custer National Forest, U. S. Forest Service, Gary Wetzsteon, in his official capacity as Beartooth District Ranger, Custer National Forest, U. S. Forest Service and the Johns-Manville Sales Corporation, a Colorado Corporation, Defendants-Appellees.
• Docket Number: No. 75-3477
• Decision Date: 13 June 1978

Page 1377

576 F.2d 1377 FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, INC., a New York Corporation, Edward
Dobson, Randall H. Gloege, Chuck Davis and Dr. J.
H. Johnson, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
Bob BERGLAND, ¹ in his official capacity as
Secretary of Agriculture, John R. McGuire, in his official
capacity as Chief, U. S. Forest Service, Steve Yurich, in
his official capacity as Regional Forester, Region 1, U. S.
Forest Service, Dan MacIntyre, in his official capacity as
Forest Supervisor, Custer National Forest, U. S. Forest
Service, Gary Wetzsteon, in his official capacity as
Beartooth District Ranger, Custer National Forest, U. S.
Forest Service and the Johns-Manville Sales Corporation, a
Colorado Corporation, Defendants-Appellees. No. 75-3477. United States Court of Appeals,
Ninth Circuit. June 13, 1978.

Page 1378

William L. Madden, Jr. (argued), Bozeman, Mont., for plaintiffs-appellants.

Robert T. Connery (argued), Denver, Colo., George R. Hyde (argued), Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court, District of Montana.

Before WRIGHT and CHOY, Circuit Judges, WEIGEL ^*, District Judge.

WEIGEL, District Judge:

Plaintiffs below appeal from an order of the district court granting summary judgment for defendants. ² Plaintiffs seek to challenge the decision of the Secretary of Agriculture, through the United States Forest Service ("Service"), approving a plan submitted by the Johns-Manville Sales Corporation ("JMSC") to engage in exploratory mining operations in the "Stillwater Complex" of the Custer National Forest. The plan called for JMSC (1) to drill a 3,000 foot exploration adit next to the West Fork of the Stillwater River; (2) to make spot improvements of approximately six miles of nearby road; (3) to construct a fifty foot bridge across the river; (4) to build a temporary campsite near the adit; (5) to construct a 300 foot access road to the adit; and (6) to deposit nearby approximately 4,000 cubic yards of rock extracted from the adit. The operation was to have been completed on or about September 1, 1975, at which time the temporary buildings were to have been removed. Plaintiffs assert that the decision of the Service approving the plan was made in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq. ("NEPA"). Plaintiffs' principal claim is that the Act required public hearings before the Service could validly decide that no Environmental Impact Statement...