Wild Wilderness v. John Allen , 871 F.3d 719 ( 2017 )


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  •                 FOR PUBLICATION
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
    WILD WILDERNESS; WINTER               No. 14-35505
    WILDLANDS ALLIANCE; BEND
    BACKCOUNTRY ALLIANCE,                    D.C. No.
    Plaintiffs-Appellants,    6:13-cv-00523-TC
    v.
    OPINION
    JOHN ALLEN, Forest Supervisor of
    the Deschutes National Forest;
    UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE,
    a federal agency,
    Defendants-Appellees,
    and
    OREGON STATE SNOWMOBILE
    ASSOCIATION; AMERICAN
    COUNCIL OF SNOWMOBILE
    ASSOCIATIONS; KEN ROADMAN;
    ELK LAKE RESORT,
    Intervenor-Defendants-Appellees.
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the District of Oregon
    Thomas M. Coffin, Magistrate Judge, Presiding
    Argued and Submitted October 5, 2016
    Portland, Oregon
    2                 WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN
    Filed September 8, 2017
    Before: Sidney R. Thomas, Chief Judge, and Richard R.
    Clifton and Jacqueline H. Nguyen, Circuit Judges.
    Opinion by Judge Nguyen
    SUMMARY *
    Environmental Law
    The panel affirmed the district court’s summary
    judgment in favor of the United States Forest Service in an
    action brought by Wild Wilderness, a group representing
    non-motorized recreationalists, challenging the Forest
    Service’s approval of the building of Kapka Sno-Park, a
    parking lot primarily designed for motorized recreationalists
    in the Deschutes National Forest in Oregon.
    The panel held that the case was not moot where Wild
    Wilderness’s complaint identified several remedies that
    remained available despite Kapka Sno-Park’s completion.
    The panel also held that Wild Wilderness’s claims did not
    lack redressability.
    The panel held that the Forest Service did not violate the
    National Forest Management Act by approving the Kapka
    Sno-Park. The panel held that Kapka Sno-Park was not
    inconsistent with the Deschutes Forest Plan.
    *
    This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It
    has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader.
    WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN                     3
    The panel held that the Forest Service did not violate the
    National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) by first
    issuing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement but then
    reversing course and issuing a Finding of No Significant
    Impact and a final Environmental Assessment in its place.
    The panel also rejected Wild Wilderness’s other claims of
    alleged Forest Service NEPA violations.
    COUNSEL
    Thomas C. Buchele (argued), Earthrise Law Center,
    Portland, Oregon; Lauren Marie Rule (argued), Advocates
    for the West, Portland, Oregon; for Plaintiffs-Appellants.
    Sean Edward Martin (argued), Assistant United States
    Attorney; Kelly A. Zusman, Appellate Chief; Billy J.
    Williams, United States Attorney; United States Attorney’s
    Office, Portland, Oregon; for Defendants-Appellees.
    Paul A. Turcke (argued), Moore Smith Buxton & Turcke,
    Boise, Idaho, for Intervenor-Defendants-Appellees.
    4               WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN
    OPINION
    NGUYEN, Circuit Judge:
    Winter recreation has become increasingly popular in the
    Deschutes National Forest in Central Oregon, exacerbating
    parking shortages and on-snow user conflicts between
    motorized and non-motorized recreationalists. In 2012, the
    National Forest Service approved the building of Kapka
    Sno-Park, a parking lot primarily designed for motorized
    recreationalists, and issued an Environmental Assessment
    (EA) for the project. Wild Wilderness, a group representing
    non-motorized users, challenged approval of the project on
    the grounds that the Forest Service had violated both the
    National Forest Management Act (NFMA) and the National
    Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The district court
    granted summary judgment in favor of the Forest Service.
    Reviewing de novo, Alliance for the Wild Rockies v.
    Bradford, 
    856 F.3d 1238
    , 1242 (9th Cir. 2017), we affirm.
    I.
    FACTUAL BACKGROUND
    The two most popular winter activities in Deschutes
    National Forest are snowmobiling and cross-country skiing.
    Cross-country skiers and other recreationalists who prefer
    non-motorized activities often dislike the noise and tracks
    left by snowmobilers, and the Forest Service has recognized
    the potential for conflicts between the two groups for many
    years. These on-snow conflicts are concentrated in the area
    surrounding Dutchman Flat and Tumalo Mountain, which
    due to its high terrain and easy accessibility is ideal territory
    WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN                  5
    for both snowmobilers and cross-country skiers. 1 A lack of
    parking has further fueled conflict between these groups of
    users. Excluding Kapka, there are seven “sno-parks” within
    the Cascade Lakes Highway area of Deschutes. Three are
    for non-motorized use only, three are for both non-motorized
    and motorized use, and one is for motorized use only.
    The Forest Service has long considered building
    additional parking for winter recreationalists in this area. In
    1996, it considered expanding existing sno-parks but
    ultimately decided not to, in part because of a desire to focus
    on alleviating on-snow user conflicts. While expanding the
    sno-parks could have alleviated conflicts over parking, more
    parking would have meant more users, potentially resulting
    in more on-snow conflicts. In 2004, the Forest Service
    banned snowmobiles from approximately 1,375 acres in the
    Dutchman Flat and Tumalo Mountain area that were
    particularly popular with skiers to reduce on-snow user
    conflicts. It also began analyzing the possibility of building
    a new sno-park in the area, near Kapka Butte.
    In 2006, the Forest Service issued a scoping notice,
    which proposed building Kapka Sno-Park primarily for
    motorized users while closing the neighboring Dutchman
    Sno-Park and its immediate surroundings to motorized use.
    The purpose and need of the action, according to the notice,
    were to reduce parking congestion and reduce user conflicts
    between the different user groups by separating them. The
    notice also stated that recent regulatory changes had gone
    into effect to separate uses and were succeeding in reducing
    conflicts in the Dutchman Flat and Tumalo Mountain areas.
    1
    A map of the area is attached as Appendix 1.
    6               WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN
    Internal emails in 2008, however, show that the Forest
    Service at some point had decided to focus only on parking
    congestion near Dutchman Flat in a smaller project instead
    of simultaneously tackling the parking shortage and further
    attempting to separate uses and thereby reduce user
    conflicts. The Forest Service issued a new scoping notice in
    2009 focused only on the parking issue and a notice of intent
    to issue an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The
    scoping notice stated that the Forest Service “expect[ed] the
    analysis to be documented in an environmental impact
    statement” and that a draft would be available soon.
    Eight months after issuing the 2009 scoping notice, the
    Forest Service released a Winter Recreation Sustainability
    Analysis. The analysis discussed the increasing use of
    certain areas of the forest for winter recreational activities,
    particularly along the Cascade Lakes corridor. The higher
    demand led to parking “bottlenecks” at some sno-parks due
    to limited parking capacity. The analysis also noted that the
    vast majority of the forest had little or no conflict issues, but
    that the area around Kapka Butte had experienced some on-
    snow conflicts, which could possibly be exacerbated if
    additional parking capacity were added because it would
    likely increase the number of motorized users in the area.
    The Forest Service issued a Draft EIS in April 2011. The
    Draft EIS’s “Purpose and Need” was twofold—to provide
    additional parking capacity and to create trails for Nordic
    skiers with dogs. Due to the narrow purpose and need, no
    alternatives that would have limited motorized use in the
    area were considered as they were outside the Statement’s
    scope.
    After the comment period ended, the Forest Service
    planned internally to issue a supplemental Draft EIS in
    response to public comments regarding skiers with dogs and
    WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN                     7
    public safety. The agency continued to work on the Draft
    EIS through June 2012.
    While working on the supplemental draft, the Forest
    Service began discussions with the Federal Highway
    Administration (FHWA) about it becoming a joint-lead
    agency on the EIS. The agencies decided to become co-lead
    agencies and met on June 28, 2012 to discuss FHWA’s
    comments on the Draft EIS. By becoming a joint-lead
    agency, FHWA was also required to sign a Record of
    Decision, either separately or jointly with the Forest Service.
    A staffer at FHWA told the Forest Service that FHWA
    would be willing to sign a separate Record of Decision, but
    “it would be great to jointly sign.”
    By July 2, four days after the meeting with the FHWA,
    the Forest Service had decided to withdraw the Draft EIS and
    issue instead a Finding of No Significant Impact and an EA
    instead of an EIS. A Finding of No Significant Impact is
    mandatory for an agency to issue an EA in place of an EIS.
    40 C.F.R. § 1501.4(e).
    Two months later, on September 14, 2012, the Forest
    Service issued the final EA along with its Decision Notice
    and Finding of No Significant Impact. The EA contained the
    same statement of purpose and need and the same four
    alternatives as the Draft EIS.
    The final project at Kapka consisted of a parking lot that
    could hold 70 vehicles with trailers and two short trails
    connecting the lot to existing trail systems. The option of
    opening the trail system to dogs was removed.
    In the following days, the Forest Service published
    notices withdrawing its “Notice for Preparation of an
    Environmental Impact Statement” as well as its Draft EIS.
    8               WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN
    Wild Wilderness and other opponents to the project filed
    administrative appeals to the Decision Notice and Finding of
    No Significant Impact, which were denied, and then this
    lawsuit.    The Oregon State Snowmobile Association
    alongside other pro-snowmobile groups successfully joined
    the case as defendant-intervenors. The Forest Service
    completed construction of Kapka Sno-Park in November
    2014, and it was open to winter recreation use for the 2014–
    15 season.
    II.
    THE CASE IS NOT MOOT
    As a preliminary matter, the Oregon State Snowmobile
    Association argues that Kapka Sno-Park is built and
    therefore this case is now moot. They also make the related
    argument that Wild Wilderness’s claims lack redressability.
    This is because, the Association argues, Wild Wilderness’s
    true goal is to reduce areas open to snowmobilers and the
    contested action did not result in more areas being open to
    snowmobile use.
    In deciding whether a case is moot in this context, “the
    question is not whether the precise relief sought at the time
    the application for an injunction was filed is still available.
    The question is whether there can be any effective relief.”
    Or. Natural Res. Council v. U.S. Bureau of Land Mgmt.,
    
    470 F.3d 818
    , 820 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Nw. Envtl. Def.
    Ctr. v. Gordon, 
    849 F.2d 1241
    , 1244–45 (9th Cir. 1988)).
    “The party asserting mootness bears the burden of
    establishing that there is no effective relief remaining that
    the court could provide.” S. Or. Barter Fair v. Jackson
    Cnty., 
    372 F.3d 1128
    , 1134 (9th Cir. 2004). That burden is
    always “heavy,” as a case is not moot where any effective
    relief may be granted, Forest Guardians v. Johanns,
    WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN                     9
    
    450 F.3d 455
    , 461 (9th Cir. 2006), but “defendants in NEPA
    cases face a particularly heavy burden in establishing
    mootness.” Cantrell v. City of Long Beach, 
    241 F.3d 674
    ,
    678 (9th Cir. 2001). As we have explained:
    When evaluating the issue of mootness in
    NEPA cases, we have repeatedly emphasized
    that if the completion of the action challenged
    under NEPA is sufficient to render the case
    nonjusticiable, entities could merely ignore
    the requirements of NEPA, build its
    structures before a case gets to court, and then
    hide behind the mootness doctrine. Such a
    result is not acceptable.
    Or. Natural Res. 
    Council, 470 F.3d at 821
    (quoting 
    Cantrell, 241 F.3d at 678
    ) (internal quotation marks omitted).
    This case is not moot. Wild Wilderness’s complaint
    identified several remedies that remain available despite
    Kapka Sno-Park’s completion. A court could order a new
    NEPA analysis with a broader purpose and need or with
    additional alternatives; issue injunctive relief requiring the
    Forest Service to close Kapka Sno-Park or use it only in the
    summer; or simply order the Forest Service to issue a full
    EIS. See, e.g., West v. Sec’y of Dep’t of Transp., 
    206 F.3d 920
    , 925 (9th Cir. 2000) (rejecting a mootness challenge
    because the court’s remaining remedial powers included
    remanding for additional environmental review or ordering
    the project closed or deconstructed).
    Relatedly, Wild Wilderness’s claims do not lack
    redressability. Although the Snowmobile Association
    argues that Wild Wilderness’s claims obscure a true desire
    for remedies beyond the scope of the current action, the court
    10             WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN
    may still grant some effective relief for Wild Wilderness’s
    claims.
    Because the case is neither moot nor lacking
    redressability, we proceed to the merits.
    III.
    THE FOREST SERVICE DID NOT VIOLATE THE
    NFMA
    We first consider whether the Forest Service violated the
    NFMA by approving Kapka Sno-Park. Forest Service
    actions must be consistent with the governing Land and
    Resource Management Plan, commonly called forest plans.
    Native Ecosystems Council v. U.S. Forest Serv., 
    418 F.3d 953
    , 961 (9th Cir. 2005); 16 U.S.C. § 1604(i). The
    governing plan here is the Deschutes Forest Plan. “We set
    aside an agency’s actions ‘only if they are arbitrary,
    capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in
    accordance with law.’” In re Big Thorne Project, 
    857 F.3d 968
    , 973 (9th Cir. 2017) (quoting Or. Natural Res. Council
    Fund v. Goodman, 
    505 F.3d 884
    , 889 (9th Cir. 2007)).
    Wild Wilderness argues that the Forest Service’s action
    failed to comply with two sections of the Deschutes Forest
    Plan. We consider each in turn.
    The first section of the Forest Plan outlines standards and
    guidelines for winter trails and includes the following
    provision:
    Where conflicts develop between non-
    motorized and motorized winter use the
    following sequence of steps will generally be
    taken:
    WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN                    11
    •   Trails will be designed to encourage
    the intended user and to discourage
    others. An inviting system of trails
    will be provided for both non-
    motorized and motorized users.
    •   Intensify educational and indirect
    management efforts to resolve the
    conflict.
    •   Restrict motorized use of [N]ordic
    trails.
    •   Close the area where the conflict is
    occurring to motorized use.
    The Forest Service has indisputably used all four of these
    steps at different times in attempting to resolve conflicts
    between motorized and non-motorized users, including
    closing areas to motorized use.           Wild Wilderness
    nonetheless argues that the provision forbade the Forest
    Service from building Kapka Sno-Park instead of closing the
    area to motorized use because user conflicts persisted. But
    nothing in this provision mandates closure of any area to
    motorized use. It merely outlines steps that “will generally
    be taken” in the event of user conflicts. The Forest Plan
    outlines “an aspiration, not an obligation” and therefore
    “there is no law for us to apply in second-guessing the
    agency.” Big Thorne 
    Project, 857 F.3d at 974
    . The record
    also does not support Wild Wilderness’s claim that the
    Forest Service has interpreted the Forest Plan to mandate
    closing areas to motorized use when user conflicts persist.
    Wild Wilderness argues that Kapka Sno-Park was
    inconsistent with the Forest Plan’s “Recreation Opportunity
    12             WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN
    Spectrum,” which labels areas within the forest with the
    recreation experiences and activities available there. See
    WildEarth Guardians v. Mont. Snowmobile Ass’n, 
    790 F.3d 920
    , 928 (9th Cir. 2015). For example, Kapka Sno-Park
    itself is located at “Scenic Views (MA 9),” where “Parking
    facilities, structures and other recreational facilities will
    normally be placed where they are not visible from
    significant viewer locations” to maintain the area’s
    aesthetics. Again, however, this non-binding guidance for
    recreation planning and guidance does not appear to create
    any obligation that the Forest Service could have
    disregarded. Because Kapka Sno-Park was not inconsistent
    with the Forest Plan, the Forest Service did not violate the
    NFMA.
    IV.
    THE FOREST SERVICE DID NOT VIOLATE NEPA
    Wild Wilderness claims that the Forest Service violated
    NEPA by first issuing the Draft EIS but then reversing
    course and issuing a Finding of No Significant Impact and
    final EA in its place. If an agency determines that an agency
    action does not require a final EIS, it must issue a “finding
    of no significant impact.” 40 C.F.R. § 1501.4(e). The
    finding must present the reasons why an action “will not
    have a significant effect on the human environment and for
    which an environmental impact statement therefore will not
    be prepared” and include an EA or a summary of it.
    40 C.F.R. § 1508.13. The Forest Service complied with
    these regulations, completing an EA and issuing a finding of
    no significant impact.
    The Forest Service had previously intended to issue an
    EIS, but regulations govern that situation as well. When the
    Forest Service has determined that an EIS “is no longer
    WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN                   13
    necessary,” it must publish a withdrawal notice in the
    Federal Register with the date and page number of the
    previously published notice. 36 C.F.R. § 220.5(c). The
    Forest Service published such a withdrawal notice.
    Wild Wilderness argues that the Forest Service faced the
    additional and implicit requirement that it issue a reasoned
    explanation as to why it had decided to issue an EA. Of
    course, every finding of no significant impact must by
    definition explain why an agency believes that the effect on
    the human environment of the agency’s decision is too
    insignificant to merit an EIS. See 40 C.F.R. § 1508.13. But
    Wild Wilderness demands something slightly different—an
    explanation not of why an EIS was unnecessary but instead
    of why the Forest Service had changed its mind.
    Wild Wilderness offers no support for this novel
    procedural requirement. But see Vt. Yankee Nuclear Power
    Corp. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 
    435 U.S. 519
    , 525
    (1978) (cautioning courts to not “engraft[] their own notions
    of proper procedures upon agencies entrusted with
    substantive functions by Congress”). It instead points to
    cases in which agencies failed to provide reasoned
    explanations for changes in their position on matters of
    policy or factual findings. See Humane Soc’y of the U.S. v.
    Locke, 
    626 F.3d 1040
    , 1049 (9th Cir. 2010); Organized
    Village of Kake v. U.S. Dep’t of Agric., 
    795 F.3d 956
    , 968
    (9th Cir. 2015) (en banc). The Forest Service here, however,
    never changed its mind on any factual or policy matter but
    only on how it planned to comply with its own procedural
    requirements. There was no agency decision to reverse, as a
    draft EIS is not an agency decision at all. See Bennett Hills
    Grazing Ass’n v. United States, 
    600 F.2d 1308
    , 1309 (9th
    Cir. 1979) (ruling that a draft EIS was not yet subject to
    judicial review because it was not yet an agency decision).
    14             WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN
    The Forest Service may have withdrawn the EIS because the
    Kapka Sno-Park was significantly scaled down from earlier
    plans or because the initial plan to release one was overly
    cautious—either way, there was no additional procedural
    requirement to explain the basis of its decision.
    Wild Wilderness suggests that the true motivation to
    withdraw the EIS arose out of the Forest Service’s meeting
    with the FHWA. The record does not establish whether this
    is true, but more importantly, it is not clear what improper
    motive either agency could have had to issue an EA in place
    of an EIS following the meeting. Wild Wilderness suggests
    that as a result of the switch from the EIS to the EA, the
    FHWA would not have had to sign the record of decision,
    but in internal emails FHWA staff wrote, “it would be great
    to jointly sign” a record of decision.
    Underscoring our conclusion is that Wild Wilderness
    does not articulate where the Forest Service was obligated to
    provide a reasoned explanation for withdrawing the Draft
    EIS. It cannot plausibly have been obligated to do so in the
    withdrawal notice, as the regulations governing such a notice
    clearly contemplate a very brief statement. 36 C.F.R.
    § 220.5(c) (stating the requirements of a withdrawal notice
    as “the date and Federal Register page number of the
    previously published notice(s)”). The finding of no
    significant impact need only “briefly present[] the reasons
    why an action, not otherwise excluded (§ 1508.4), will not
    have a significant effect on the human environment and for
    which an environmental impact statement therefore will not
    be prepared.” 40 C.F.R. § 1508.13. While the Forest Service
    was obligated to explain why an EIS was not necessary, and
    did, there was no additional requirement that the Forest
    Service explain why it chose to comply with its own
    procedural requirements in a certain way.
    WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN                        15
    The Forest Service also did not violate NEPA by failing
    to provide a convincing statement of reasons that Kapka
    Sno-Park would not significantly affect the environment.
    Whether an action “significantly” affects the environment
    requires analyzing both “context” and “intensity.” 40 C.F.R.
    § 1508.27. “Context” means that “the significance of an
    action must be analyzed in several contexts such as society
    as a whole (human, national), the affected region, the
    affected interests, and the locality.” 
    Id. § 1508.27(a).
    “Intensity” requires consideration of ten factors regarding
    the “severity of impact.” 
    Id. § 1508.27(b).
    One of these
    factors may demonstrate intensity sufficiently on its own,
    although the presence of one factor does not necessarily do
    so. Ocean Advocates v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng’rs,
    
    402 F.3d 846
    , 865 (9th Cir. 2005).
    The district court correctly concluded that the agency’s
    action lacked “intensity,” as not one of the intensity factors
    suggested that Kapka Sno-Park significantly affected the
    environment. First, and contrary to Wild Wilderness’s
    arguments, the degree to which the project affected the
    environment was not “likely to be highly controversial.”
    40 C.F.R. § 1508.27(b)(4).           “Controversial” refers to
    disputes over the size or effect of the action itself, not
    whether or how passionately people oppose it. See Sierra
    Club v. U.S. Forest Serv., 
    843 F.2d 1190
    , 1193 (9th Cir.
    1988). There is no dispute about the size or nature of Kapka
    Sno-Park and only small disputes about its effects, such as
    where some of the snowmobilers parking at Kapka Sno-Park
    will prefer to recreate. The anecdotal evidence about
    snowmobiler preferences that Wild Wilderness marshaled
    for this factor did not rise to the level of the sorts of scientific
    controversies that would substantially undermine the
    reasonableness of the Forest Service’s conclusions. See
    Humane 
    Soc’y, 626 F.3d at 1057
    .
    16              WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN
    Wild Wilderness also argues that the action threatened a
    violation of federal law, the NFMA, another intensity factor.
    40 C.F.R. § 1508.27(b)(10). As discussed above, however,
    building Kapka Sno-Park did not violate the NFMA and
    therefore did not threaten a violation of federal law.
    Wild Wilderness lastly claims that there may be
    cumulatively significant effects when the project is
    considered with other related actions.         40 C.F.R.
    § 1508.27(b)(7). The EA examined the cumulative effects
    with related actions, however, and none of the related
    potential actions appeared to compound on-snow user
    conflicts between motorized and non-motorized users. None
    of the potential actions about which Wild Wilderness was
    concerned even involved motorized use.
    Wild Wilderness claims that the EA’s Statement of
    Purpose and Need and range of alternatives for Kapka Sno-
    Park were unreasonably narrow. NEPA requires both that
    an EA specify the need for a proposed action, 36 C.F.R.
    § 220.7(b)(1), and that the agency study, develop, and
    describe appropriate alternatives. W. Watersheds Project v.
    Abbey, 
    719 F.3d 1035
    , 1050 (9th Cir. 2013). The latter
    obligation is lessened but still extant when preparing an EA
    instead of an EIS. 
    Id. Courts afford
    significant but not
    unlimited discretion to agencies to articulate an action’s
    statement of purpose and need. Westlands Water Dist. v.
    U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, 
    376 F.3d 853
    , 866 (9th Cir. 2004).
    The scope of the analysis of alternatives depends on the
    underlying purpose, so the agency need only evaluate
    alternatives that are reasonably related to the purposes of the
    action. League of Wilderness Defenders—Blue Mountains
    Biodiversity Project v. U.S. Forest Serv., 
    689 F.3d 1060
    ,
    1069 (9th Cir. 2012).
    WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN                    17
    The EA here articulated the purpose and need for Kapka
    Sno-Park as “provid[ing] safe, high elevation parking that
    will enhance a variety of winter recreation opportunities and
    provide access to over snow trail systems near the Cascade
    Lakes Highway corridor.” There is support in the record for
    the need for safe parking. Wild Wilderness attacks the
    statement as unreasonably narrow because it ignored the
    issue of on-snow user conflicts. The Forest Service was not
    obligated, however, to attack every problem in a single
    action. Although the Forest Service has in the past
    considered tackling both the parking shortage and user
    conflicts in a single action, they were not so intertwined that
    the Forest Service was unreasonable in aiming to address
    one without addressing the other simultaneously. Wild
    Wilderness claims that the Forest Service itself has in the
    past found that the issues could only be adequately addressed
    in a single action, but the record again does not support that
    conclusion.
    As the Statement of Purpose and Need was not
    unreasonably narrow, neither was the range of alternatives.
    The scope of the analysis of alternatives depends on the
    underlying purpose, so an agency need only evaluate
    alternatives that are reasonably related to the purposes of the
    action. League of Wilderness 
    Defenders, 689 F.3d at 1069
    .
    The EA examined the proposed action, a no-action
    alternative, and two other action alternatives in detail. The
    action alternatives were significantly distinct from one
    another with regard to their proposals for relocating trails,
    varying the size of the parking lot, and changing the size of
    non-motorized areas. The EA also briefly considered seven
    additional alternatives with explanations of why they were
    not considered in detail. The Forest Service was not required
    18                WILD WILDERNESS V. ALLEN
    to provide alternatives that more aggressively addressed on-
    snow user conflicts. 2
    V.
    CONCLUSION
    The Forest Service violated neither the NFMA nor
    NEPA in approving Kapka Sno-Park, and therefore the
    judgment of the district court is
    AFFIRMED.
    2
    Because we hold that the Forest Service did not violate NEPA by
    failing to sufficiently address the issue of on-snow user conflicts, we
    need not address the question of whether on-snow user conflicts are
    outside the scope of the agency’s required NEPA analysis entirely
    because they are “citizens’ subjective experiences,” Bicycle Trails
    Council of Marin v. Babbitt, 
    82 F.3d 1445
    , 1466 (9th Cir. 1996), not the
    “physical environment,” Metro. Edison Co. v. People Against Nuclear
    Energy, 
    460 U.S. 766
    , 772 (1983).
    APPENDIX 1
    Case: 14-35505, 03/30/2015, ID: 9477836, DktEntry: 13-7, Page 156 of 267
    Big   Meadow
    Bend     Municipal
    Watershed
    Dutchman        Flat
    ._.._.._
    Tumalo Mtn
    Summit
    Dutchman
    Sno-Park
    Sunrise
    Mt   Bachelor            Lodge
    Ski Resort                                                                        46
    Proposed
    Kapka     Butte
    Sno-Park
    Snowmobile      Trails
    __     Ski Trails
    Watershed      Boundary
    K/A    2004/2005      Motorized       Closure    Areas
    Pre-existing    Motorized       Closure    Areas
    0.5              IMiles
    Areas Open      to   Winter    Motorized    Use
    ER1577
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 14-35505

Citation Numbers: 871 F.3d 719

Filed Date: 9/8/2017

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 1/12/2023

Authorities (16)

Oregon Natural Resources Council Fund v. Goodman , 505 F.3d 884 ( 2007 )

Forest Guardians v. Mike Johanns, Secretary of Agriculture ... , 450 F.3d 455 ( 2006 )

native-ecosystems-council-the-ecology-center-inc-v-united-states-forest , 418 F.3d 953 ( 2005 )

westlands-water-district-san-luis-delta-mendota-water-authority-v-united , 376 F.3d 853 ( 2004 )

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96-cal-daily-op-serv-3162-96-daily-journal-dar-6933-bicycle-trails , 82 F.3d 1445 ( 1996 )

Bennett Hills Grazing Association v. United States of ... , 600 F.2d 1308 ( 1979 )

Humane Society of the United States v. Locke , 626 F.3d 1040 ( 2010 )

anne-cantrell-an-individual-lou-anna-denison-an-individual-kenneth-n , 241 F.3d 674 ( 2001 )

southern-oregon-barter-fair-v-jackson-county-oregon-jackson-county-board , 372 F.3d 1128 ( 2004 )

sierra-club-a-california-non-profit-corporation-v-united-states-forest , 843 F.2d 1190 ( 1988 )

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources ... , 98 S. Ct. 1197 ( 1978 )

Metropolitan Edison Co. v. People Against Nuclear Energy , 103 S. Ct. 1556 ( 1983 )

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