Opinion ID: 175356
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Effect on Wildfires

Text: The Service's EA cites the reduction of the risk of wildfires to local residents as a primary purpose of the Project. Plaintiffs argue that the Service violated NEPA by failing to address scientific debate concerning whether forest thinning actually reduces wildfire intensity. A failure in an EA to discuss and consider evidence contrary to the Service's position suggests that the Service did not take the requisite `hard look' at the environmental consequences of its proposed action. Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project v. Blackwood, 161 F.3d 1208, 1213 (9th Cir. 1998). This case is different from those in which courts have identified significant controversies as to the efficacy of the Service's proposed methods. In Sierra Club v. Eubanks, 335 F.Supp.2d 1070, 1074, 1077-78 (E.D.Cal.2004), the Service failed to respond to scientific studies showing that its activities would increase fire risk and, instead, relied on studies that did not actually support its position. In Sierra Club v. Bosworth, 199 F.Supp.2d 971, 979-80 (N.D.Cal.2002), the literature review that accompanied the EIS included a report that called into question the Service's methodology, but that the EIS failed to disclose or analyze. In this case, the EA acknowledges the limits of the benefits that would be provided by the Project. The EA does not claim that the Project would eliminate wildfires in the area altogether, but merely that it would reduce potential fire severity, in particular crown fires. The EA explains that limiting crown fires would enhance firefighter and public safety by reducing the average rate of fire spread from 1 to 3 miles per hour to 0.1 to 0.5 miles per hour. The Service's risk reduction calculations are supported by studies conducted in other regions, as well as by extensive modeling. We therefore affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment to the Service on this claim.