Opinion ID: 808970
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Elk Hiding Cover Methodology

Text: Native Ecosystems Council contends that the Forest Service’s aerial photo interpretation (PI Type) methodology is invalid and unreliable because the Forest Service can slash and burn an understory without affecting what would be seen on an aerial photo due to canopy cover. Native Ecosystems Council contends that the PI Type methodology fails to consider the possibility that the removal of understory may not be cognizable aerially if a forest has very dense vegetation and thick canopy cover. Native Ecosystems Council’s challenge fails to prove that the Forest Service acted arbitrarily and capriciously in selecting the PI Type methodology to analyze elk hiding cover. The Forest Service based its selection of the PI Type methodology upon a rigorous and scientific 1982 elk logging study involving the use of a life-sized, two dimensional cutout of an elk in various types of forest stands.5 The Forest Service noted the characteristics of each stand in the various areas in which hiding covered was measured. The stand characteristics were then classified into different PI Types. Based upon those descriptions, a “Montana Rule” was developed to calculate an average percentage hiding cover by type. For any given area, the percentage of effective cover was then determined by multiplying the acres of each PI Type by the Montana Rule percentages, totaling the acres providing hiding cover, and then dividing by total acres. The “Montana Rule” percentages were tested for accuracy in the elk logging study of 1982; in that comparison of over 22 sites, the Montana Rule estimated 5 The Rocky Mountain Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service (which includes the Lewis and Clark National Forest) defines “stand” as: “a biotic community, particularly of trees, possessing sufficient uniformity of composition, age, and spatial arrangement to be distinguishable from adjacent communities. Stand structure refers to the composition, age, and arrangement of the trees in a delimited biotic community.” Rocky Mountain Research Station, Glossary, http://www.rmrs.nau.edu/publications/ rm_gtr_295/glossary.html (last visited August 16, 2012). NATIVE ECOSYSTEMS COUNCIL v. WELDON 11723 hiding cover at 46.7% (+/- 2.4%) and actual observation determined 46.2% hiding cover. Based upon those findings, the Forest Service determined that PI Type analysis, as applied using the Montana Rule, is reliable. Moreover, and in addition to the classic PI Type/Montana Rule analysis, in order to specifically address concerns that aerial photos would not reflect the effects of thinning on lower understory due to canopy cover, the Forest Service created new criteria for determining whether the understory treatments would change the PI types. These new criteria provided that PI Type would also be changed by the existence of “cutover,” which was characterized as “areas with obvious evidence of man’s recent cutting activities, such as cutting unit boundaries, characteristic roading systems, etc.” [2] Native Ecosystems Council fails to present any compelling evidence that the Forest Service’s reliance on the elk logging study was arbitrary or capricious. To the contrary, Native Ecosystems Council fails to assert any distinguishing facts between the 1982 elk logging study and the instant case that would render the PI Type methodology inapposite. Native Ecosystems Council presented no evidence that understory removal had not occurred prior to 1982 in any of the 11 sample areas analyzed in the elk logging study. Moreover, Native Ecosystems Council has not proffered any evidence that the PI Type methodology is predicated on only assessing stands in which no understory treatment has occurred. In contrast, the Forest Service has demonstrated that the PI Type methodology accounts for stocking levels and understory density because the PI Type/Montana Rule calculation is determined by the number of trees in a given area. Thus, regardless of whether the understory was previously treated, the Forest Service was not arbitrary or capricious in selecting the PI Type methodology because it reasonably relied upon the 1982 elk logging study and the Montana Rule to conclude that the methodology adequately gauged stand density. [3] The mere fact that Native Ecosystems Council disagrees with the methodology does not constitute a NEPA vio11724 NATIVE ECOSYSTEMS COUNCIL v. WELDON lation. In reviewing Native Ecosystems Council’s NEPA appeal, we may not insert our opinions in the place of those of forest biologists. Lands Council, 537 F.3d at 988. Rather, we are required to apply the highest level of deference in our review of the Forest Service’s scientific judgments in selecting the elk hiding cover methodology. Northern Plains, 668 F.3d at 1075. Given the paucity of Native Ecosystems Council’s factual distinctions, and the substantial deference owed to the Forest Service’s determinations, we hold that the Forest Service’s selection of the PI Type methodology did not violate NEPA. Lands Council, 537 F.3d at 987-88. B. Flawed Conclusions in Elk Hiding Cover Analysis An agency decision is arbitrary and capricious if, among other things, it “offered an explanation that runs counter to the evidence before the agency or is so implausible that it could not be ascribed to a difference in view or the product of agency expertise.” Lands Council, 537 F.3d at 987 (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). Under NEPA, the purpose of an Environmental Assessment (EA) is simply to create a workable public document that briefly provides evidence and analysis for an agency’s finding regarding an environmental impact.” Tri-Valley CAREs, 671 F.3d at 1129. We do not require the agency “to compile an exhaustive examination of each and every tangential event that potentially could impact the local environment. Such a task is impossible, and never-ending. The purpose of the EA is simply to create a workable public document that briefly provides evidence and analysis for an agency’s finding regarding an environmental impact.” Id. The EA must only “provide the public with sufficient environmental information, considered in the totality of the circumstances, to permit members of the public to weigh in with their views and thus inform the agency decisionmaking process.” Bering Strait Citizens, 524 F.3d at 953. We thus defer to agency decisions so long as those conclusions are supported by studies “that the agency deems reliable.” N. Plains Res. Council, 66 F.3d at 1075 (emphasis added). NATIVE ECOSYSTEMS COUNCIL v. WELDON 11725 Native Ecosystems Council contends that the Forest Service’s elk cover hiding analysis violated NEPA because it was contradicted by the record based upon the following three arguments: (1) the agency’s logging conclusion that the Project would not thin stands below 40% density (“moderately stocked”) was contradicted by a 2007 Forest Service silvicultural report, which stated that the Project would thin stands from being “moderately stocked” to being “poorly stocked”; (2) the agency’s conclusion that the Project would not change the PI Types of stands treated by prescribed burning was contradicted by the fact that burning would per se alter the height, texture, and stocking of a stand; and (3) the agency’s conclusion that slashing will not produce cutover was contradicted by the fact that slashing will produce tree stumps. We address each of Native Ecosystems Council’s arguments in turn.
Native Ecosystems Council challenges the Forest Service’s commercial logging findings based on a 2007 silvicultural report on the impacts of the Project that indicated that the project goal of reducing the risk of crown fire would be met by reducing canopy cover to less than 40 percent. Because the threshold between a “moderately stocked” stand and a “poorly stocked” stand is 40 percent, and a change from “moderately stocked” to “poorly stocked” would result in a change in PI Type, Native Ecosystems contends that the Forest Service’s conclusion that the logging and thinning aspects of the Project would not change PI Type is contradicted by the record. [4] We disagree. The Forest Service based its analysis of the impacts of logging and thinning on a 2009 revision of the original 2007 silvicultural report upon which Native Ecosystems Council relies. The 2007 silvicultural report was thus superseded by the final 2009 version, which corrected previous errors6 and reflected more accurate data about the Proj- 6 The 2007 report had originally indicated that no trees greater than 15” in diameter would be cut. This was in error. In fact, the final limitation on 11726 NATIVE ECOSYSTEMS COUNCIL v. WELDON ect’s impacts on canopy cover. In the final 2009 silvicultural report, which was subsequently incorporated into the third chapter of the EA, entitled “Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences,” the Forest Service specifically considered the direct and indirect consequences of past, present and reasonably foreseeable future project related activities based upon two different alternatives: (1) no agency action and (2) proposed action by the Project. In that chapter alone, the Forest Service cited over thirty different studies upon which it based its findings. Based upon those studies and its own revised analysis in 2009, the Forest Service thus reasonably concluded that the Project goals could be accomplished by reducing canopy cover to 40 percent (or lower), and therefore it was not necessary to thin stands below the “moderately stocked” category. Moreover, a separate February 2010 report supplementing the elk hiding cover analysis confirmed the findings of the final 2009 silvicultural report included in the EA. There, the Forest Service concluded that the project would not change “Effective Hiding Cover” for elk from the existing condition (“moderately stocked”) and that broadcast burning, as well as cutting and slashing, would not alter the PI type. [5] Under Lands Council, the 2007 silvicultural report does not prove that the Forest Service’s conclusion was “implausible” because it was superseded by more accurate predictions. 537 F.3d at 987. Nor does the 2007 report demonstrate that the Forest Service’s reliance on the 2009 revisions or 2010 biologist report was contradicted by facts in the record because the Forest Service reasonably determined the 2009 and 2010 reports were based upon corrected and more recent data and various different studies. Id. Accordingly, because trees subject to the thinning aspects in the final 2009 report was actually more restrictive: prohibiting cutting of any trees greater than 14” in diameter. NATIVE ECOSYSTEMS COUNCIL v. WELDON 11727 the Forest Service supported its findings with multiple different studies and analyses, we defer to the Forest Service’s conclusion that the slashing and thinning activities would not alter the PI of the Project area. Id.
Native Ecosystems Council contends that the prescribed burning of the Project area per se changes the character of the treated stand by altering its height and texture, thus changing the stand’s PI Type. Besides the outdated 2007 silvicultural report, Native Ecosystems Council cites minimal evidence, if any, to support its position. It contends, based on the report, that: “Removing trees indisputably alters their height. Reducing stand density has the potential to alter the texture and stocking of the stand.” However, Native Ecosystems Council fails to appreciate that the Project actually serves to preserve the distinguishing features of the PI Types of the burned stands by removing the invasive fauna that has caused the increased fire risk. [6] Specifically, Native Ecosystems Council ignores the fact that the prescribed burns will occur only “within and adjacent to meadows,” which are assigned at PI Type of 93 (“nonforest,” defined as having generally 10 percent cover from shrubs, grass, riparian trees, etc.) Such meadows and adjacent areas in the Project area were actually threatened by the invasive conifers and shrubs causing the fire danger. Thus, the Forest Service demonstrated that the prescribed burning would restore the status quo by limiting the shrubs and conifers presently invading the meadows. Accordingly, we hold that the Forest Service’s conclusion that the prescribed burning “preserves the meadow and does not change its PI Type,” is supported, rather than contradicted by the evidence in the record, and therefore does not violate NEPA. Lands Council, 537 F.3d at 987. 11728 NATIVE ECOSYSTEMS COUNCIL v. WELDON
[7] Native Ecosystems Council contends that hand slashing will produce stumps, and that stumps are “evidence of man’s recent cutting activities,” thus rendering Project areas “cutover,” and changing their PI type. However, the very document upon which Native Ecosystems Council relies defines “cutover” as “areas with obvious evidence of man’s cutting activities, such as cutting unit boundaries, characteristic roading systems, etc.” The mere fact that some stumps may exist does not rise to the level of rendering a stand “cutover”—that is why the report emphasizes “cutting unit boundaries,” because the cutting has to be significant and widespread. We hold that the Forest Service is entitled to substantial deference in this interpretation of its own regulations. Forest Guardians, 329 F.3d at 1097. Moreover, Native Ecosystems Council has presented no evidence that some stumps would constitute true “cutover.” Indeed, the record indicates that larger trees would be retained and “the spatial arrangement (horizontal structure) would be irregular and random to feature groups of larger diameter trees of similar age.” And contrary to Native Ecosystems Council’s contentions, the temporary road to be constructed during the project would not constitute a “roading system” because it would be decommissioned and rehabilitated after the Project is completed. [8] Given these considerations, the Forest Service does not rely upon facts that are contradicted by the record; rather, Native Ecosystems Council attempts to distort the meaning of “evidence of man’s recent cutting activities” by ignoring the technical definitions of cutover in the EA. Such logic fails to prove a NEPA violation. Lands Council, 537 F.3d at 987. Accordingly, we hold that the Forest Service did not violate NEPA in concluding that the slashing would not render the Project area cutover.