Sierra Club v. U.S. Forest Service

On April 22, 2024, Sierra Club and two other environmental organizations filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the Eastern District of California challenging the U.S. Forest Service’s authorizations of two logging and vegetation management projects in the footprints of two recent fires in the Giant Sequoia National Monument and the Sequoia National Forest. The groups filed the lawsuit three days after voluntarily dismissing the case in the Northern District of California. The complaint alleged that, contrary to the Forest Service’s assertion, these projects’ proposed removal of trees from thousands of acres was “not clearly needed for ecological restoration and maintenance.” The plaintiffs contended that environmental impact statements should have been prepared and that the analyses in the environmental assessments and findings of no significant impact were insufficient, including because they failed to adequately consider impacts on carbon storage. They also asserted that the Forest Service failed to comply with the National Forest Management Act.

Sierra Club and two other environmental organizations challenged the U.S. Forest Service’s authorizations of two logging and vegetation management projects in the footprints of two recent fires in the Giant Sequoia National Monument and the Sequoia National Forest. The complaint alleged that, contrary to the Forest Service’s assertion, these projects’ proposed removal of trees from thousands of acres was “not clearly needed for ecological restoration and maintenance.” The plaintiffs contended that environmental impact statements should have been prepared and that the analyses in the environmental assessments and findings of no significant impact were insufficient, including because they failed to adequately consider impacts on carbon storage. They also asserted that the Forest Service failed to comply with the National Forest Management Act.