Klamath Forest Alliance v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Conservation groups challenged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS’s) conclusion that certain forest management activities that would “take” northern spotted owls in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest were not likely to jeopardize the owl’s continued existence. The groups alleged that this “no jeopardy” conclusion was arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to the Endangered Species Act, including because the FWS’s biological opinion failed to adequately account for “how climate change may amplify the effects of the Project—and vice versa.” The complaint also asserted that the U.S. Forest Service violated the Endangered Species Act by relying on the biological opinion.