Opinion ID: 166190
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Operations or Activities of the Government

Text: 12 Although the redacted lienholder agreements derive from a private transaction, the BLM directly facilitates the transaction by keeping the agreements on file and by notifying the lender institutions of proposed permit transfers and any agency action that might affect the value of the permit. As the district court noted, public funds and resources are used to facilitate the practice of accommodating financial institutions who make private loans using the privilege to graze on public lands as collateral. Dist. Ct. Order at 37. The requested records therefore have a direct connection to the operations and activities of the BLM. 13 Forest Guardians also asserted that the lienholder agreements, although recording a private business transaction, indirectly pertain to the land management policy of the BLM by shedding light on the potential influence private groups have over this policy. More specifically, Forest Guardians believes that the large financial stake that lending institutions have in the value of grazing permits may create substantial economic and political pressure on the BLM to maintain high levels of grazing. Materials submitted to the BLM by Forest Guardians described the activities of the BLM related to the issuance of grazing permits and provided information on the extent of the financial institutions' involvement in the collateralization of grazing permits. See, e.g., Appellant's App. at 43-55. 8 By its very nature, the influence private groups may have over the BLM's land management policy is not likely to be out in the open and to require Forest Guardians to provide more concrete factual support for its assertions would be setting the bar too high. Cf. Renegotiation Bd. v. Bannercraft Clothing Co., 415 U.S. 1, 17, 94 S.Ct. 1028, 39 L.Ed.2d 123 (1974) (purpose of the FOIA). By submitting documentation demonstrating the BLM's direct facilitation of the collateralization of grazing permits and supporting the possible influence of private groups on the BLM's decision-making process, Forest Guardians has shown that the requested records relate to the operations or activities of the BLM. 14