Summary of a Recent
Judicial Development in
Environmental Law

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Actions Were Not Arbitrary or Capricious

Walt McCarter
National AgLaw Center Research Associate

Summary of Decision

In Silver Dollar Grazing Association v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, No. 07-35612, 2009 WL 166924 (9th Cir. Jan. 13, 2009), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) may analyze habitat as a proxy for wildlife populations rather than taking an actual inventory of the populations, and that the Service's failure to follow a habitat management plan's aspirational monitoring guidelines was not necessarily arbitrary and capricious.

Background

The Silver Dollar Grazing Association (Silver Dollar) brought this action against the Service for allegedly violating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Silver Dollar Habitat Management Plan. Id. at *1. The district court granted summary judgment for the Service, and Silver Dollar appealed. Id.

Analysis and Holdings

The court explained that because NEPA was intended to protect the environment, parties alleging a violation of NEPA must assert a harm that has "a sufficiently close connection to the physical environment." Id. The court found that Silver Dollar had not adequately done so because it had "failed to provide any evidence that the alleged procedural violation will threaten [its] interests in the environmental health of the land," and therefore the court affirmed dismissal of the NEPA claim. Id.

The court further found that the Service had not acted arbitrarily or violated an executive order by analyzing habitat as a proxy for wildlife population. Id. at *2. The executive order directed the Service to create a "balanced wildlife population," and although it had not conducted an actual inventory of wildlife populations, the Service had conducted an analysis of forage quality to approximate the wildlife population. Id. Regarding Silver Dollar's assertion that the Serviced violated the Silver Dollar Habitat Management Plan by not strictly following the monitoring statements within the Plan, the court held that a mere failure to follow a habitat management plan's aspirational monitoring guidelines was not arbitrary and capricious, and therefore affirmed the dismissal of Silver Dollar's other claims. Id. at *3.

The case was decided on January 13, 2009.