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Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, Inc. v. National Marine Fisheries Service

253 F.3d 1137 (2001)

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Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Inc. v. National Marine Fisheries Service

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
253 F.3d 1137 (2001)

DC

Facts

In 1994, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management adopted the Northwest Forest Plan (NFP), a comprehensive management program for 24.5 million acres of federal forests covering the endangered spotted owl’s range. The Aquatic Conservation Strategy (ACS), a component of the NFP, was a management plan designed to restore and maintain federal forest waterways’ ecosystem health. The ACS established guidelines restricting some activities in key watersheds and riparian reserves. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (defendant) examined whether 23 proposed timber sales (the timber projects) in the Umpqua River Basin were consistent with the ACS. After assessing the sales’ effects on watershed degradation, the NMFS issued four biological opinions concluding that the proposed timber sales would not likely jeopardize the continued existence of the Umpqua cutthroat trout or the Oregon Coast coho salmon. Six environmental organizations (plaintiffs) sued NMFS, alleging that the ACS required a determination of whether the sales would cause cumulative degradation beyond the watershed level. The district court granted summary judgment for the environmental organizations, and NMFS appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Goodwin, J.)

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