Defenders of Wildlife v. U.S. Forest Service

The federal district court for the District of Colorado denied a petition challenging the biological opinion prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for revisions to the forest plan for the Rio Grande National Forest, which provides habitat for the Canada lynx. The forest plan was revised in response to a beetle epidemic that decimated the largest trees in the forest. The revised plan removed certain restrictions on logging and allowed increased salvage logging. The court found that the petitioner did not show that the FWS had incorrectly concluded that the revised forest plan was not likely to jeopardize the Canada lynx in the contiguous United States. The court concluded that the revised plan was programmatic, did not authorize specific projects, and therefore did not directly jeopardize the lynx. The court also found that extirpation of the lynx in the forest would not significantly affect the lynx’s status across the contiguous United States and that the petitioner did not overcome the presumption of validity that attached to the FWS’s conclusions. Specific arguments rejected by the court included the petitioner’s contention that the FWS did not reconcile “the trend toward lynx extirpation in Colorado” with allowing increased salvage logging in the lynx’s “most important” habitat in Colorado. The court cited uncertainty in projects regarding the lynx’s future, including due to “nuances and caveats based on potential impacts from beetle kill, fire, and climate change.” Although the court also cited the FWS’s statements that “continued climate warming” would reduce lynx habitat in the forest and that the FWS was not aware of management actions that could be expected to abate climate-related threats to the habitat, the court found that the petitioner did not show that the Colorado lynx population “represents a distinct or outsized risk to the distinct population segment” in the contiguous U.S.