Forest Service Rule Scaling Back Logging Reviews Upheld in Court

Conservation groups lost their challenge to a US Forest Service rule meant to expedite logging near communities vulnerable to wildfires after a federal judge said the lawsuit was premature.

The groups haven’t shown imminent injury as the categorical exclusion to National Environmental Policy Act reviews passed under the first Trump administration hasn’t been applied to a specific project, the US District Court for the Western District of Virginia ruled Wednesday.

The categorical exclusions “at issue are merely one step closer to the site-specific actions courts have found to be ripe for review,” Judge James P. Jones said granting the government ...