Victory in First Round of BLM RMP Litigation

Advocates for the West has won a groundbreaking victory in one of the largest environmental law cases ever filed, the BLM RMP case. This case challenges 18 Resource Management Plans that govern BLM’s management of over 25 million acres of public land around the West. The Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho and the Pinedale Field Office in western Wyoming were selected as “test cases” for the first round of briefing.   

Today, Judge Winmill ruled in our favor on these two test cases, holding that BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act in issuing the RMPs for Craters of Moon and Pinedale. Specifically, BLM violated NEPA in refusing to consider reductions in livestock grazing in the RMP for Craters of the Moon and in failing to consider how energy development will impact sage-grouse in combination with livestock grazing in the Pinedale Field Office. BLM also violated FLPMA by disregarding its own National Sage-Grouse Habitat Conservation Strategy and Sensitive Species Policy in issuing the new RMPs.
 
Read Judge Winmill's decision below.   

Files: 

Judge Winmill's Order Granting WWP's Motion for Summary Judgment