Federal Court Voids A Terrible Management Plan for the Pisgah, Nantahala Forests

A federal District Court Judge in western North Carolina has thrown out the US Forest Service (USFS) Pisgah-Nantahala Forest Plan for failing to adequately protect wild lands and endangered species. Citizen groups who challenged the plan are pleased to see bad decisions sent back to the drawing board.

The Flawed Plan

In 2024, several citizen conservation groups sued the USFS and the US Fish & Wildlife Services (USFWS) for adopting a forest management plan which failed to protect the forests, wild areas, or endangered species which live in the affected areas. The District Court decision has found that plan to be unsupported by evidence in the record, and has ordered that the plan not be relied upon to guide national forest management decisions in the Nantahala and Pisgah national forests.

The plan proposed a massive increase in logging in the forests, including habitat for endangered forest bats, but the federal agencies failed to show that the rare and federally protected species could withstand the increased logging. The Court ruled that the USFS and USFWS analysis of the impacts on endangered species (“Biological Opinion”) was clearly flawed – “unexplained,” “unsupported,” “deficient,” and “of almost no value” – and that since the Biological Opinion was unlawful, that voided the forest plan overall. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) represented the groups which sued to have the forest service’s plan thrown out. 

Protecting National Forests

“The Court’s decision confirms that the Forest Service unlawfully cut corners in its planning process, resulting in a Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan that pushed rare and endangered wildlife even closer to the brink of extinction. With the agencies’ reckless analysis thrown out, we can look toward creating a better, more protective Forest Plan that prioritizes the health of the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests and all the animals and communities that rely on them,” said SELC staff attorney Spencer Scheidt. “This ruling is a major victory for these incredible forests and sends a clear message that federal agencies are required to follow the law.” 

“This is a massive win for wildlife and for the millions of people who visit these cherished forests,” said Will Harlan, Southeast Director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Forest Service’s aggressive and illegal logging plans completely ignored science and the public, who overwhelmingly support protecting these forests. This ruling is a dagger to the destructive forest plan and a lifeline for wildlife and communities.”