Save Upper Echo Lake

This week the U.S. House of Representatives passed the " FOIA Oversight and Implementation Act of 2015  (pdf)," a FOIA reform bill.  Last year both Houses passed FOIA reform bills, but the federal bureaucracy monkey-wrenched reform efforts. Reporter Ken Bogardus stated in E&E Daily (House approves FOIA reform bill, Jan. 12, 2016), "Though popular on Capitol Hill, FOIA reform often stalls out before becoming law after it runs into opposition from agency officials." President Obama and Attorney General Holder made strong written commitments (pdf) to open government and in favor of disclosure of information under FOIA early in the current Administration, but numerous executive departments apparently are failing to respond to FOIA requests and/or improperly withholding government records. There is no question that the government is routinely violating FOIA and that FOIA reform is a worthy idea, but it is an open question whether a policy window will open in 2...

Dennis Murphy filed a complaint (pdf) in federal district court today in response to the Forest Service's continuing disregard for its obligations under FOIA. Blog posts explaining the agency's illegal conduct can be found here and here . In addition to its violations of FOIA, the agency is also violating the Information Quality Act and its own guidelines for implementation of that Act by failing to respond to a request for correction filed by Dr. Murphy in July 2015. We describe the request here .

This you tube video provides a wonderful, bird's eye view of Lower and Upper Echo Lakes.  Among other things, it reinforces the indisputable fact -- set forth in the Forest Service's  Lake Tahoe Basin Multi-Jurisdictional Fuel Reduction and WildfirePrevention Strategy  -- that the lands adjacent to Upper Echo Lake are at low risk for wildfire as a consequence of the low density of forest at this high elevation. The premise for the Upper Echo Lake Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project is that those lands are at high risk for wildfire. Once that premise is falsified, both as a legal and practical matter, it becomes clear that the Forest Service acted improperly by pursuing the project.

More than 30 months after the Fish and Wildlife Service issued a proposed rule designating critical habitat for the endangered Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, the agency has yet to issue a final rule.  In the meantime, the Forest Service opposes designation of lands it holds in trust for the American people as critical habitat, even where they constitute habitat for the species.

A number of blog posts on this site address the failure of the Forest Service to respond to a FOIA request for a narrow set of e-mail communications made more than a year ago.  Although this Administration has committed to open government consistent with FOIA, its track record is checkered, like the previous Administration's.  The Forest Service's conduct reinforces the need for open government and checks and balances so that over-zealous bureaucrats can be held to account for their conduct.  Folks interested in open government might be interested in the FOIA blog .

Plaintiff Dennis Murphy is seeking leave to file a supplemental complaint to add new claims that the Forest Service's decision to implement just the first phase of the Upper Echo Lake Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project violates NEPA. Defendants moved to dismiss all plaintiff's existing claims as moot.  Their motion is based on their own action withdrawing the project authorization and the theory that federal agencies can violate the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to conduct mandated environmental review of a project, implement the project, then declare the project authorization withdrawn to avoid a judicial determination that they have violated federal law.  Dr. Murphy filed an opposition to the motion. Meanwhile, Defendants have littered the project area with slash piles, creating new fire risk. In some cases, the Forest Service's has created fuel ladders where they did not exist before. At the same time, the Forest Service has yet ...

More than 250 scientists signed a letter (pdf) opposing a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives ( H.R. 2647 ) that would expedite logging on public lands by allowing the Forest Service to avoid the environmental review requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA has often been referred to as the magna carta of U.S. environmental law. Phil Taylor of E&E reported on the letter and House bill on September 25 in E&E Daily.