Oregon Wild v. Connaughton

In an unpublished memorandum, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the U.S. Forest Service’s decision not to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) for the expansion of a ski area in Oregon. Environmental groups had identified five categories of new information since the 2004 preparation of an EIS that they contended warranted supplemental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The new information included ten documents with information on climate change (eight climate change studies and two internal climate change guidance documents). The Ninth Circuit said it owed its “highest” deference to the Forest Service’s explanations regarding why the climate change documents were either irrelevant or did not otherwise provide significant new information area that necessitated supplemental NEPA review.