Swan View Coalition v. Steele

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that claims challenging a 2017 biological opinion (BiOp) for a forest plan for the Flathead National Forest were moot due to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s issuance of a superseding BiOp in 2022. The Ninth Circuit therefore vacated the District of Montana’s summary judgment rulings on Endangered Species Act claims, which remanded for additional analysis of certain issues, including impacts on the national grizzly bear population. The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment rulings for the defendants on National Environmental Policy Act claims. Neither the Ninth Circuit’s memorandum nor the district court’s 2021 opinion addressed some plaintiffs’ allegations that the federal defendants did not account for climate change impacts on grizzly bears.