A Democrat Party front group, Los Padres Forestwatch, sued to STOP the thinning of forest. In other words, they sued to allow MORE forest fires. They sued to create more intense forest fires. They sued to destroy more homes, property and the killing of animals. Thankfully, a court ruled AGAINST forest fires.
“The panel gave some indication at a hearing last month that it wasn’t too impressed with the argument by Los Padres Forestwatch and other conservation groups that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act by relying on so-called categorical exclusions to avoid completing a standard environmental review for the logging project on Pine Mountain Ridge.
In particular, the judges appeared unmoved by the argument that the Forest Service ignored the significance of Reyes Peak, the tallest point on Pine Mountain Ridge, which an attorney for the environmentalists told them is a well-known observation point saturated with cultural and ceremonial significance for Native American tribes.
“The peak itself?” U.S. Circuit Judge Ronald Gilman, a Bill Clinton appointee sitting with the panel by designation from the Sixth Circuit, wondered at the hearing, as he was trying to ascertain whether there were any specific sites such as burial mounts in the project’s area. “That’s just a place of reference, but OK, so what?”
Note that Newsom was silent on this. The Democrat Party was silent on this. Every time you hear of a forest fire, think of the Democrat Party and its role in the destruction.
Ninth Circuit rebuffs challenge to Southern California forest thinning project
The appellate panel wasn’t persuaded that the U.S. Forest Service violated the law while completing its environmental review for the project.
Edvard Pettersson, courthouse News, 11/12/24 https://www.courthousenews.com/ninth-circuit-rebuffs-challenge-to-southern-california-forest-thinning-project/
LOS ANGELES (CN) — The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday declined to block a forest thinning project in Southern California that the U.S. Forest Service says is needed to reduce the risk of wildfires in the area.
In an unsigned decision, a panel of three judges affirmed a Los Angeles trial judge’s ruling granting summary judgment to the Forest Service and approving the service’s Reyes Peak Forest Health and Fuels Reduction Project in Ventura County.
The panel gave some indication at a hearing last month that it wasn’t too impressed with the argument by Los Padres Forestwatch and other conservation groups that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act by relying on so-called categorical exclusions to avoid completing a standard environmental review for the logging project on Pine Mountain Ridge.
In particular, the judges appeared unmoved by the argument that the Forest Service ignored the significance of Reyes Peak, the tallest point on Pine Mountain Ridge, which an attorney for the environmentalists told them is a well-known observation point saturated with cultural and ceremonial significance for Native American tribes.
“The peak itself?” U.S. Circuit Judge Ronald Gilman, a Bill Clinton appointee sitting with the panel by designation from the Sixth Circuit, wondered at the hearing, as he was trying to ascertain whether there were any specific sites such as burial mounts in the project’s area. “That’s just a place of reference, but OK, so what?”
In its denial of the nonprofits’ appeal, the panel observed that the Forest Service consulted with both federally recognized and non-federally recognized tribes and incorporated recommendations from its Cultural Resources Report in the project’s design.
These recommendations, the panel said, included maintaining a 20-meter buffer zone around any cultural sites in the project’s area in which only hand-thinning is allowed.
As for Reyes Peak itself, the judges said, the conservation organizations hadn’t identified any potential negative impact on that site.
“In fact, the Forest Service determined that the project will likely have a positive impact on Reyes Peak’s long-term sustainability as a cultural resource by slowing the spread of a wildland fire and reducing the potential for the loss of life, property, and natural resources,” the ruling says.
Likewise, the panel was satisfied with the Forest Services’ plans to cut down only smaller trees, less than 24 inch in diameter at breast height, in a roadless area within the project’s zone, and it didn’t see any merit in the argument that some part of Pine Mountain Ridge might at some point be designated as a protected wilderness area.
“The court’s ruling is a shocking blow, but we’re not deterred in our commitment to do everything we can to protect Pine Mountain,” Jeff Kuyper, Executive Director of Los Padres ForestWatch, said in a statement Wednesday. “This project exemplifies the misguided ‘rake-the-forest’ policy that began under the last Trump administration, and will only worsen over the next four years..
U.S. Circuit Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, another Clinton appointee, and U.S. Circuit Judge Daniel Collins, a Donald Trump appointee, rounded out the panel.
The Forest Service wants to “thin” 755 acres of land, mostly within Los Padres National Forest, to reduce wildfire risk. But seven environmental groups, the city of Ojai and Ventura County sued, claiming the agency violated federal law by using an expedited environmental review process.
The service’s decision, made in May 2020, aims to “to improve forest health by reducing mortality risk, provide safe and effective locations from which to perform fire suppression operations, to slow the spread of a wildland fire,” according to the agency’s decision memo. Dense forests, it argues, are susceptible to both fire and disease.
