Rejecting in part a magistrate judge’s recommendation, the federal district court for the District of Montana found that the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to comply with NEPA, the National Forest Management Act, and the Endangered Species Act in the review of a forest treatment project in the Custer Gallatin National Forest. The court vacated and remanded the environmental assessment and decision notice issued by the Forest Service. The court rejected, however, the plaintiffs’ argument under NEPA that the Forest Service failed to adequately address the cumulative impacts of climate change. The court noted that the Forest Service concluded—based on a project-level carbon analysis that was “tiered” to a 2022 programmatic analysis of carbon sequestration for the Custer Gallatin National Forest Land Management Plan—that the project would result in a short-term release of carbon but would over the long term increase carbon storage and reduce emissions. The court found that the Forest Service’s consideration of cumulative climate change effects was adequate “[g]iven the nature of this Project and the recency and scope of the tiered analysis.”

Challenge to U.S. Forest Service authorization of a commercial logging project in Custer Gallatin National Forest.

Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Forest Service

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Montana Federal Court Vacated Approval for Project in Custer Gallatin National Forest but Upheld Climate Change Analysis 

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A loan is a policy instrument where funds are provided to a borrower with the expectation of repaying the principal plus interest.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

Electricity generation from devices driven by the movement of salt water, differences in saltwater temperatures, or salinity gradients.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

The activities of industries that transforms raw materials into finished goods through industrial processes.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

Activities that relate to the production of goods and services from forests.

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

Montana Federal Court Vacated Approval for Project in Custer Gallatin National Forest but Upheld Climate Change Analysis

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Economic sector