Opinion ID: 3062246
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: On-Site Visits

Text: BCA next argues that the Forest Service failed to conduct on-site visits to each of three sites identified as potential fens. As a result, it says the agency reached a flawed decision and did not fully understand motorcycle usage’s effect on fens. As a part of its study, the Forest Service identified the relevant fens through a “remote sensing/GIS effort” in 2002–03, App. 126, and also by the work of a botanist, App. 176. The Forest Service then relied on satellite imagery to reach some of its conclusions on the precise location and characteristics of the affected fens. In addition, the record reveals that wildlife biologists walked the Albany Trail. Aple. Supp. App. 22–23. BCA argues the Forest Service’s efforts were not enough. It says the regulations’ requirement that the agency evaluate effects on wetlands demands that additional specialists visit each fen and perform full botanical surveys. See 40 C.F.R. 1508.27(b)(3). But NEPA does not require the agency to use particular methodologies, and BCA does not point to any case law suggesting that an agency cannot take a hard look at the impact on a particular site unless both botanists and wildlife specialists conduct on-site visits. NEPA grants substantial discretion to an agency to determine how best to gather and assess information. See Utah Shared Access Alliance, 288 F.3d at 1212–13. And, because the question is whether the agency’s decision was arbitrary and capricious, we look to whether the -12- agency’s chosen method is sound, not whether there are competing methods that might work as well. See id. (“[C]ourts are not in a position to decide the propriety of competing methodologies, but should simply determine whether the challenged method had a rational basis and took into consideration the relevant factors.” (citing Comm. to Preserve Boomer Lake Park v. U.S. Dep’t of Transp., 4 F.3d 1543, 1553 (10th Cir. 1993))); see also Biodiversity Conservation Alliance v. Jiron, ___ F.3d ___, No. 13-1352, 2014 WL 3827171, slip op. at 75–76 (10th Cir. Aug. 5, 2014). The Forest Service’s chosen method here allowed it to soundly evaluate the impact on fens. Via satellite imagery, the Forest Service evaluated the number of fens potentially affected and the plant life in the fens. It then concluded that motorcycles had been used in those areas for thirty years and that users had already built trails that would accommodate the anticipated amount of future use without further significantly disturbing the fens. Given the deference we owe the Forest Service, we cannot conclude that, absent reasons to question the Forest Service’s factual findings, the failure to provide additional study renders the Albany Trail decision arbitrary and capricious. 6 6 We note that, while failure to visit each fen does not constitute a NEPA violation, it may violate the Forest Service’s Water and Aquatic Standard #15, which requires on-site analysis for every project that takes place within 300 feet of a fen. But the question of whether the Albany Trail decision is consistent with Forest Service policies is not properly before us. Although BCA brought an NFMA challenge before the district court, BCA appeals under NEPA alone. (continued...) -13-