Opinion ID: 3039428
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: the cow catcher and cottonsnake

Text: TIMBER SALES [18] Finally, because BLM’s 2001 and 2003 ASR Decisions violated FLPMA and NEPA, we hold that the Cow Catcher and Cottonsnake timber sales are invalid and must be enjoined because they do not “conform to the approved [resource management] plan[s].” 43 C.F.R. § 1610.5-3. The reasoning is straightforward. BLM did not conduct pre-disturbance surveys for red tree voles in preparing either the Cow Catcher or Cottonsnake timber sale. Under the Survey and Manage designations, Category C clearly requires pre-disturbance surveys to be conducted at the habitat level prior to habitat-disturbing activities. Because the 2001 and 2003 ASR Decisions are invalid and must be set aside, 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A), the Survey and Manage designations under the 2001 ROD are reinstated. See Paulsen v. Daniels, 413 F.3d 999, 1008 (9th Cir. 2005) (“The effect of invalidating an agency rule is to reinstate the rule previously in force.”). BLM did not comply with the resource management plans and the 2001 ROD for either sale because it failed to KLAMATH SISKIYOU WILDLANDS v. BLM 18245 satisfy the Survey and Manage requirements pertaining to a Category C species. Therefore, the sales may not go forward.