Opinion ID: 3038902
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: AOI Used to Impose Bull Trout ESA Standards

Text: The legal effect of an AOI is also demonstrated by the Forest Service’s use of the AOI to impose standards promulgated in the wake of the 1998 listing of the bull trout, a native salmonid species, as a threatened species under the ESA. As documented in the record, the Forest Service issued a grazing permit to Coombs Ranch for the Dollar Basin/Star Glade Allotments in 1996. The permit stated that no AMP existed for the allotments, but that the Forest Service was scheduled to develop one. It also stated that, in the meantime, the Forest Service would use the AOI “to bring management of the [allotments] into consistency with the terms of the Malheur [Forest Plan].” In 1998, the Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) listed the bull trout as a threatened species under the ESA, 63 Federal Reg. 31,647 (June 10, 1998), which triggered the Forest Service’s duty under the ESA to consult with FWS to insure that any agency action, such as authorization of grazing, on Forest Service land would not likely jeopardize the threatened species or its habitat. See 16 U.S.C. § 1536(a)(2). Since the 1998 listing, the relevant AOIs have incorporated bull trout standards and objectives. For example, the 1998 AOI for Dollar Basin/Star Glade allotments stated, “[b]eginning this year, standards and habitat objectives for bull trout are detailed for each unit.” The administrative record further reflects that AOIs for the other allotments subject to bull trout standards and objectives also contained similar statements between 1998-2003. Because the Forest Service issued most of the grazing permits underlying the AOIs challenged in this litigation prior to the bull trout listing and there are no current AMPs for the allotments, the AOI was the Forest Service’s principal means of imposing the new bull trout standards on the permit holders from 1998 forward. By OREGON NATURAL DESERT v. USFS 11853 restricting the rights of and conferring duties on a grazing permit holder to bring the Forest Service’s annual authorization of grazing into compliance with ESA requirements, the AOI is the Forest Service’s definitive statement that fixes the legal relationship between the Forest Service and the permit holder. The utilization of an AOI in this manner further supports our conclusion that an AOI is a final agency action. See Idaho Watersheds Project, 307 F.3d at 828 (“definitive position”); Ukiah Valley Med. Ctr., 911 F.2d at 264 (“fix some legal relationship”). Finally, the Forest Service argues that “[w]ithout the AOIs, the permittees would still be authorized to graze in accordance with the terms and conditions of the permit.” The Forest Service’s position is contradicted by the terms of the grazing permit itself and Forest Service practice. The permit does not authorize the permit holder to graze continuously for the permit’s ten-year duration. Rather, the permit authorizes the permit holder to graze livestock only after the Forest Service has approved the permittee’s annual application. In practice, the Forest Service approves the application in conjunction with issuance of the AOI. Although the annual application calls for basic information, it is the AOI that indicates the detailed terms and conditions by which the Forest Service expects the permit holder to graze his livestock in the upcoming season. The Forest Service’s argument is not supported by the terms of the permit or by the record.14 14 OCA similarly argues that “[a]n AOI simply allows the [Forest Service] a way to communicate with the permittees on a yearly basis regarding the implementation of the terms and conditions in the term grazing permit.” However, as the Forest Service itself stated to permittee Coombs on May 27, 2004, “[t]he AOI is part of your permit . . . It is your responsibility to be familiar with and comply with your operating plan.” This statement, along with the other examples in the administrative record that highlight the legal significance of the AOI, make clear that the Forest Service expects immediate compliance with the AOI. See Indus. Customers of NW Utils., 408 F.3d at 646 (ruling that finality is indicated when “ ‘immediate compliance [with the terms] is expected’ ” (quoting Cal. Dep’t of Water Res. v. FERC, 341 F.3d 906, 909 (9th Cir. 2003) (alteration in original)). The Forest Service’s “own behavior [ ] belies the claim that its [annual operating instruction] is not final.” Whitman, 531 U.S. at 479. 11854 OREGON NATURAL DESERT v. USFS