Opinion ID: 1359302
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Designation of Old Growth: Effective vs. Replacement

Text: WildWest next challenges the Forest Service's inclusion of some replacement old growth in its analyses, arguing that habitat which does not presently meet the needs of old-growth species should not count toward the ten percent minimum. WildWest does not refer to any specific project in this section of its brief, but does in various other sections refer to the levels of old growth habitat in each project area. We treat the claim as properly raised with respect to all nine site-specific projects. The general requirements of the Forest Plan state only that 10% of the Kootenai National Forest land base below 5,500 feet in elevation will be in an old-growth timber condition. The Forest Plan does not address whether replacement old growth may be included in the Forest Service's calculation to attain the ten percent level. Therefore, the Forest Service is not clearly precluded from designating effective old growth or including effective old growth in its analyses. Assuming the Forest plan leaves some ambiguity as to whether replacement old growth should be included, we defer to the Forest Service's reasonable interpretation of the Forest Plan's requirements. Lands Council v. Powell (Lands Council I), 395 F.3d 1019, 1034 (9th Cir.2005); Idaho Sporting Cong. v. Thomas, 137 F.3d 1146, 1154 (9th Cir.1998) (deferring to the Forest Service's expertise in interpreting its Land Management Plan), overruled on other grounds by Lands Council II, 537 F.3d at 997. The Forest Service's interpretation of the ten percent standard is reasonable for two reasons. First, the Forest Plan FEIS provides: Long-term management, [as opposed to existing, natural old-growth], includes recognition of existing old growth, but also includes designation of future old growth .... (emphasis added). This language plainly indicates that the Forest Service may include replacement old growth in its analyses. Second, as the district court highlighted in a prior related case, the KNF did not meet the ten percent standard based on existing old growth alone at the time the Forest Plan was adopted. Ecology Ctr., Inc. v. Castaneda, No. CV 02-200-MDWM, 2003 WL 25548017, at  (D.Mont. June 27, 2003). Designation of areas not yet possessing all the characteristics of old growth was necessary to meet the ten percent standard, and to ensure careful preservation of these areas for the future. It is therefore reasonable to interpret the Forest Plan as permitting designation of replacement old growth to meet the ten percent standard. Accordingly, the Forest Service did not act in an arbitrary or capricious manner by including replacement old growth in its statistics or analyses for purposes of meeting the ten percent standard.