Opinion ID: 793549
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Riparian guild: Southwestern willow flycatcher as MIS

Text: 31 Similar to its contentions regarding the sage grouse are UEC's arguments that the Forest Service (1) has not collected quantitative population data on the Southwestern willow flycatcher and (2) has not adequately explained why it chose this MIS representative for the riparian guild. The Southwestern willow flycatcher is an endangered species. Under the Forest Plan, the agency is responsible for annual visual reconnaissance and reporting for endangered species. See 1 AR 000157 (Forest Plan at V-6). 32 According to the EA, willow flycatchers were observed in the 1990s in thick willow stands eight air miles northwest of the Project area. 1 AR 000069; see also 2 AR 000768 (Project's Biologist Report). However, the EA concluded that no potential habitat occurs in the Project area because, [b]ased on field surveys, no willow flycatchers had been documented on the Thousand Lakes Mountain. 1 AR 000069. The Forest Service references formal flycatcher surveys in the Fishlake National Forest, including areas of the Loa Ranger District, conducted since 1994. 2 AR 001336. However, we cannot assess these field surveys because they are not in the administrative record before us. See UEC I, 372 F.3d at 1227 (instructing courts to examine the Forest Service's approval of a project based on the administrative record). 33 Given the absence of quantitative data in the record and the agency's failure to satisfy the Forest Plan's monitoring requirements for an endangered species, we come to the same conclusion as we did in UEC I for this species: While annual monitoring of the southwestern willow flycatcher's presence, abundance, and nesting is sufficient to meet the Forest Service's obligations under the Fishlake Forest Plan and § 219.19, because we find no such data in the record, we are unable to conclude that the Forest Service fulfilled its obligations under § 219.19 in monitoring this MIS. Id. at 1229. 34