Friends of the Clearwater v. Probert

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The federal district court for the District of Idaho enjoined two “forest health projects” that would involve “extensive timber harvest” in the Nez Pearce-Clearwater National Forests. The court found that the U.S. Forest Service violated the National Forest Management Act by failing to establish that the projects were consistent with Nez Pearce Forest Plan criteria defining old growth stands. The court also found that the environmental review for one of the projects did not adequately consider the two projects’ cumulative environmental impact in relation to old growth. The court rejected other arguments, including that the Forest Service failed to adequately address contrary scientific views on the efficacy of forest thinning to reduce wildfire risk and insect outbreaks. The plaintiff’s allegations included that old growth forests “fight climate change by sequestering carbon[] and are refugia for species facing a changing climate.”