Forest Access Case Goes to Ninth Circuit

Courting Liberty

Pacific Legal Foundation will present oral argument at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Friends of Tahoe Forest Access v. U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday, February 8. In this episode, PLF Senior Staff Attorney Ted Hadzi-Antich previews his argument that challenges the U.S. Forest Service’s plan to curtail motorized access to hundreds of miles of roads and trails in the Tahoe National Forest that were previously open to the public. The lawsuit targets the implementation of the Forest Service’s 2005 Travel Management Rule at the Tahoe National Forest. PLF argues the Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to adequately analyze the human impacts of prohibiting access to more than 800 miles of formerly accessible trails, failing to conduct a site-specific analysis of the routes at issue, and improperly prejudicing off-road recreation in developing the purpose and need for the regulatory decision. Representing a number of Northern California off-road enthusiasts — both organizations and individuals — PLF’s lawsuit points out that Forest Service has put itself on the wrong side of the law in its drive against public access.