Concerned Friends of the Winema v. McKay

The federal district court for the District of Oregon rejected a challenge to decisions of the U.S. Forest Service that opened up additional acreage to livestock grazing on the Antelope Allotment in the Fremont-Winema National Forest in south-central Oregon. The court found the defendants had complied with NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Forest Management Act. Under NEPA and the ESA, the court rejected the argument that the Forest Service failed to take a hard look at how climate change would exacerbate grazing’s effects on Oregon spotted frogs and the claim that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “virtually ignore[d]” climate change in its biological opinion.