Overview of civil suit to protect America’s last wild buffalo and associated wildlife species in Yellowstone National Park and the Gallatin National Forest.
Plaintiffs are Western Watersheds Project, Buffalo Field Campaign, Tatanka Oyate, Gallatin Wildlife Association, Native Ecosystems Council, Yellowstone Buffalo Foundation, and Montana residents Daniel Brister, Meghan Gill, and Charles Irestone.
Defendants are Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior; Suzanne Lewis, Park Superintendent, Yellowstone National Park; National Park Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Interior; Leslie Weldon, Regional Forester, US Forest Service Northern Region; U.S. Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Mary Erickson, Gallatin National Forest Supervisor.
This is a civil action for judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act of U.S. Forest Service decisions and actions which preclude native bison and associated species from occupying and using Gallatin National Forest lands, without any enforceable standards or other guidance in the Forest Plan.
Plaintiffs have asked the court to review legal claims that the U.S. Forest Service is violating the National Forest Management Act by not providing for diversity of plant and animal species on the Gallatin National Forest, is not identifying or managing habitat for bison, and is not ensuring viable populations of bison and associated species exist on the Gallatin National Forest.
Plaintiffs have also asked the court to review National Park Service decisions and actions likely causing impairment or unacceptable impacts to native bison populations and other resources by allowing the wanton destruction of bison and not conserving bison and other resources in Yellowstone National Park.
Plaintiffs seek court review of both agencies’ refusal to analyze and disclose new information and changed circumstances relating to bison management and brucellosis in the Yellowstone ecosystem.
Legal claims brought by the plaintiffs include:
The U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service are violating the National Environmental Policy Act and Administrative Procedure Act by failing to conduct new or supplemental analysis based on new information and changed circumstances for ongoing bison management activities under the Interagency Bison Management Plan, and by arbitrarily and capriciously implementing the plan and taking actions under it that are now known to have unforeseen effects not analyzed and disclosed in their analysis and that are contrary to the plan’s goals.
The U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service are violating the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to adhere to actual adaptive management policy and by repeatedly deciding to implement the Interagency Bison Management Plan “Adaptive Management” framework without justification and without demonstrating that their management is accomplishing either of the plan’s goals.
The U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service are violating the National Environmental Policy Act the Administrative Procedure Act by arbitrarily and capriciously deciding not to conduct new or supplemental analysis based on new information and changed circumstances, and have failed to take a hard look in their decisions adopting amendments to the Interagency Bison Management Plan and the Operating Procedures.
The U.S. Forest Service is violating the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act by issuing a Special Use Permit for the Horse Butte capture facility by improperly using a categorical exclusion, improperly limiting the scope of its decision and analysis, improperly tiering to the Interagency Bison Management Plan environmental impact statement and record of decision, improperly segmenting their decisions, and arbitrarily and capriciously deciding not to prepare new or supplemental site specific analysis.
The U.S. Forest Service is violating the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act by issuing a Special Use Permit for Fencing for the Royal Teton Ranch Lease, by improperly using a categorical exclusion, improperly limiting the scope of their decision and analysis, improperly tiering to the Interagency Bison Management Plan environmental impact statement and record of decision, improperly segmenting their decision, and arbitrarily and capriciously deciding not to prepare site-specific analysis.
The National Park Service is violating the National Park Organic Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to determine and ensure bison and other park resources are conserved, and protected from impairment and unacceptable impacts due to Interagency Bison Management Plan decisions and actions.
The National Park Service is violating the Yellowstone National Park Organic Act by failing to provide against the wanton destruction of bison inside Yellowstone National Park.
The plaintiffs seek declaratory judgment from the court requiring the federal agencies to comply with their Congressional mandates to conserve and avoid impairing wildlife; provide for diversity of plant and animal species, and ensure viability of native species on our national forest lands; and mitigate harm and prevent irreparable injury to the human environment; and to take a hard look at environmental impacts and make informed decisions with the best available science about wild bison and related species in the Yellowstone ecosystem.
Plaintiffs also seek injunctive relief against lethal bison removals until the agencies complete full analysis of impacts based upon new information and changed circumstances, and until the agencies have scientifically determined what a minimum viable population of bison would be, what the scientific, ecological carrying capacity of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem is for bison that would ensure bison’s ability to fulfill their evolutionary potential, and until the agencies analyze and disclose the impacts and impairments to bison of Interagency Bison Management Plan decisions and actions. |
