FOREST SERVICE: Appeals court rejects challenge to agency rule on roadless areas in Colo.
Jeremy P. Jacobs, E&E reporter
Greenwire: Wednesday, April 30, 2014
A federal appeals court yesterday rejected an environmental group's challenge to the Forest Service, allowing trees to be cleared for ski runs at the Snowmass ski resort near Aspen, Colo.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected claims brought by the nonprofit Ark Initiative against the service's removing "roadless" areas that are protected from timber harvesting on Burnt Mountain.
At issue is a 2012 service rule that redefined roadless areas in Colorado. The rule protected about 4.2 million acres, including more than 400,000 acres that was previously not listed. However, it also removed more than 8,300 acres from the program for ski management.
Two weeks after the service finalized the rule in response to a request from Colorado, Ark asked the service to redesignate about 1,000 acres on Burnt Mountain in the Snowmass ski area as roadless.
The service denied that request, and Ark filed a lawsuit alleging that it did not provide a reasonable justification or explanation for the rejection.
A unanimous three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit rejected those claims, however.
The panel did find that Ark had standing to bring the suit because its members enjoyed the wilderness area on Burnt Mountain for recreational purposes.
But it found nothing wrong with the service's handling of it.
"The Forest Service's denial of Ark's Emergency Petition was neither unexplained, unreasonable, nor unduly brief under the circumstances," wrote Judge Judith Rogers, a Democratic appointee.
