Silverton Snowmobile Club v. U.S. Forest Service

• Citation: 433 F.3d 772
• Decision Date: 12 January 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-1005.,05-1005.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit)
• Parties: THE SILVERTON SNOWMOBILE CLUB, on behalf of its members; The Colorado Snowmobile Association, on behalf of its members; Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition, on behalf of its members, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE; Rick D. Cables, in his official capacity as Regional Forester, Region 2, U.S. Forest Service; Mark Stiles, in his official capacity as Forest Supervisor, San Juan National Forest, U.S. Forest Service; Pauline Ellis, in her official capacity as District Ranger, Columbine Ranger District, San Juan National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, and as Field Office Manager, San Juan Field Office, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management; United States Bureau of Land Management; Ron Wenker, in his official capacity as Colorado State Director, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Defendants-Appellees, San Juan Citizens Alliance and Colorado Mountain Club, Defendants-Intervenors-Appellees.

433 F.3d 772

THE SILVERTON SNOWMOBILE CLUB, on behalf of its members; The Colorado Snowmobile Association, on behalf of its members; Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition, on behalf of its members, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE; Rick D. Cables, in his official capacity as Regional Forester, Region 2, U.S. Forest Service; Mark Stiles, in his official capacity as Forest Supervisor, San Juan National Forest, U.S. Forest Service; Pauline Ellis, in her official capacity as District Ranger, Columbine Ranger District, San Juan National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, and as Field Office Manager, San Juan Field Office, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management; United States Bureau of Land Management; Ron Wenker, in his official capacity as Colorado State Director, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Defendants-Appellees San Juan Citizens Alliance and Colorado Mountain Club, Defendants-Intervenors-Appellees.

No. 05-1005.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

January 12, 2006.

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Paul A. Turcke, Moore Smith Buxton & Turcke, Chartered, Boise, ID (D. Andrew Wight, Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition, Denver, CO, with him on the briefs) for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Matthew J. Sanders, United States Department of Justice, Environment & Natural Resources Division, Washington, DC (Lois Witte, Of Counsel, Office of General Counsel, United States Department of Agriculture, Golden, CO; John Kunz, Of Counsel, Office of the Regional Solicitor United States Department of the Interior, Lakewood, CO; Kelly A. Johnson, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Denver, CO; William J. Leone, Acting United States Attorney, Denver, CO; Jerry N. Jones and Mark S. Pestal, Assistant United States Attorneys, Denver, CO; and Todd S. Aagaard, Attorney, United States Department of Justice, Environment & Natural Resources Division, Washington, DC, with him on the briefs) for Federal Defendants-Appellees.

Amelia S. Whiting, Western Resource Advocates, Boulder, CO (Michael Chiropolos, Western Resource Advocates, Boulder, CO; and Jeffrey C. Parsons, Lyons, CO, with her on the briefs) for Defendants-Intervenors-Appellees.

Before HENRY, ANDERSON, and O'BRIEN, Circuit Judges.

STEPHEN H. ANDERSON, Circuit Judge.

This case involves an environmental law challenge to actions by various federal agencies regarding changes in winter recreational access to an area, known as the Molas Pass area, near Highway 550 in Colorado. The district court ruled in favor of the agencies on all claims.

More particularly, plaintiffs Silverton Snowmobile Club ("SSC"), the Colorado Snowmobile Association ("CSA") and the Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition ("COHVCO") appeal an order of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado affirming a Decision Notice and Finding of No Significant Impact ("Decision"), and accompanying Final Environmental Assessment ("EA"), issued by the United States Forest Service ("Forest Service") and the United States Bureau of Land Management ("BLM"). SSC alleges that the Decision was issued in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321-4370f, the National Forest Management Act of 1976 ("NFMA"), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1600-1614, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 ("FLPMA"), 43 U.S.C. §§ 1701-1782. The San Juan Citizens Alliance ("SJCA") and the Colorado Mountain Club ("CMC") were granted permission by the district court to intervene in this action and they participate on appeal as appellee-intervenors. We affirm the district court's decision.

BACKGROUND

The Molas Pass area consists of approximately thirty-seven square miles of public land, with elevations ranging from 9,000 to more than 13,000 feet, located forty-two miles north of Durango, Colorado. EA at 5, Administrative Record ("AR") at 848. It includes both sides of a stretch of U.S. Highway 550. It lies partly within the San Juan National Forest, which is managed by the Forest Service and partly within public lands that are managed by the BLM. Id.

Prior to the Decision challenged in this appeal, the area was used by both motorized and nonmotorized recreationists. The San Juan National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan ("Forest Plan") of 1983, as amended in 1992, designated a zone of up to one-and-one-half miles on each side of Highway 550 as 2B Management Area Prescription. The 2B Prescription states that "activities such as ... snowmobiling ... are possible." AR at 337. The 1985 BLM San Juan Resource Area Management Plan ("RMP") limited motorized use to certain roads and trails in the Silverton Special Recreation Management Area. In April 1994 the SSC entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with the San Juan National Forest for the purpose of setting out the responsibilities of both parties with regard to maintenance and grooming of trails in the Forest. Under the MOU, the SSC agreed, inter alia, to groom and maintain certain trails, and the Forest Service agreed, inter alia, to "[m]ake selected areas available for snowmobiling activities and facilities." MOU, Appellant's App. at 30.

During the winters of 1998-99 and 1999-2000, a lack of snow at lower elevations in Colorado caused an increased concentration of motorized and non-motorized recreation in the Molas Pass area. Decision at 1-2, AR at 987-88. Conflicts between these two groups of recreationists led to letters to the editor of a local newspaper and complaints to Federal land managers and the San Juan County Commissioners. This in turn prompted the Forest Service and the BLM to initiate a public process to evaluate whether changes were necessary in the winter recreation management protocols applicable to the Molas Pass area. The agencies accordingly held two open houses and a workshop in early 1999 and formed an interdisciplinary team ("IT"), whose mission was "to review the public input; develop alternatives to address the issues; and analyze the environmental, social, and economic effects of all alternatives." Decision at 3, id. at 989. During the open houses and through comments the agencies received from the public, the nonmotorized users of the area expressed their desire to "recreate safely in an area free of noise, fumes, and intrusion of motorized vehicles," EA at 7, id. at 854, while motorized users expressed their desire not to lose any areas currently available for motorized use, and to expand motorized use in the area near Silverton.

The agencies developed the following goal for management of the Molas Pass area: "To provide visitors with an opportunity for a quality motorized and nonmotorized winter recreational experience, where both user groups have safe highway access to their sport of choice, and where both private and commercial uses are appropriately balanced." Decision at 2, id. at 988. The IT held a public workshop in June 1999 in which participants broke into three small working groups and assessed various alternatives. In July and August 1999 the agencies mailed summaries of the workshop results and a timeline for a draft environmental assessment to everyone who had attended the open houses and workshops or who had indicated some interest in the matter. Numerous articles, editorials and letters from interested citizens appeared in local newspapers.

In November 1999, the agencies issued a draft environmental assessment ("Draft EA"), which presented four alternatives for winter use management of the Molas Pass area: (1) no action, which would leave winter management of the area unchanged; (2) maintaining the area west of Highway 550 for motorized winter use and making the area east of the highway a strictly nonmotorized area; (3) maintaining the area east of the highway for motorized use and making the area west of the highway a strictly nonmotorized area; and (4) expanding by 3600 acres the motorized area west of the highway, designating the area east of the highway and south of the top of Molas Pass a strictly nonmotorized area, and permitting grooming from the top of Molas Pass north and west of the highway.

The agencies provided a sixty-day period for comments on the Draft EA. They received 815 comment letters, of which 40% favored Alternative 1, 6% favored Alternative 2, 1% favored Alternative 3, 27% favored Alternative 4, and 26% expressed no preference. Additionally, 60% of the comments favored some sort of segregation of motorized and nonmotorized uses.

The agencies also consulted with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service ("FWS") about what effects the alternatives might have on the twenty-four species listed as sensitive, threatened, or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-1544. In November 2000, the FWS issued a Biological Evaluation and Biological Assessment ("BE/BA") addressing those effects. The BE/BA concluded that the proposed alternatives "[m]ay affect the Canada lynx, but is not likely to adversely affect the continued existence of the species or result in destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat." EA at 61, AR at 910. The BE/BA explained that the Molas Pass area "contains potential foraging, denning, and travel habitat [for the Canada lynx], especially the spruce/fir ecosystem surrounding the large open meadows of the area." EA at 48, id. at 897. A map included in the BE/BA indicates that 8,461 acres out of a total of 27,388 acres in the relevant area provide a suitable habitat for lynx. EA at 55, id. at 904. As discussed more fully infra, there was an ongoing effort to re-introduce lynx into the area.

In assessing the impact of the proposed alternatives on the lynx, the BE/BA noted that "[s]now compaction may cause a direct effect on lynx by potentially increasing predator competition" but that because "lynx seldom venture more than 330 feet into open areas, ... the area that is being considered for motorized use will have very little, if any, additional effect on any...