Forest Service Defeats Appeal for Climate Update to Forest Plan

The U.S. Forest Service doesn’t need to update a plan for a Montana forest to account for climate change because the plan doesn’t qualify as an ongoing federal action, the Ninth Circuit affirmed Friday.

The ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit came as a loss to the Cottonwood Environmental Law Center. The group argued the agency was required to update the 1987 Gallatin Forest Plan after it recognized in 2012 that forest plans needed updates due to climate change.

The National Environmental Policy Act requires an updated environmental review when there’s “significant new information” or ...