Forest Service officials have withdrawn their appeal of a federal judge's decision halting several logging projects that threatened grizzly bear habitat in the Kootenai National Forest. U.S. District Judge Don Molloy blocked the projects last June in a lawsuit between the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Kootenai Forest Supervisor Paul Bradford. In his 64-page ruling, Molloy said the Forest Service was unable to show it had properly assessed how the projects would affect the dwindling population of grizzly bears. Bradford appealed the ruling to the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals, but attorneys with the Department of Justice submitted a request to dismiss the appeal Friday. The appellate court granted the request Monday. Speaking by telephone from his office in Helena, Michael Garrity, executive director of Alliance for the Wild Rockies, said he was pleased with the decision and hopes it will encourage more thorough environmental assessments of future logging proposals and their effect on wildlife species. Kootenai Forest spokesman Willie Sykes said the office had no information about the motion or the appellate court's ruling, and did not return calls for comment after being provided with the documents...more
It may or may not be accurate to say "Forest officials" withdrew the appeal. There is not the regular lawyer-client relationship between federal agencies and DOJ. The agencies can recommend, but the lawyers at Justice have the final say.
So in this case we don't know whether: a. The Forest Service recommended withdrawal, b. The DOJ decided they couldn't win and filed the withdrawal papers, or c. It's a political sop to the enviros.
1 comment:
C. is the correct answer. It always is the answer when it comes to a court fight with the greens.
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