Case 1:16-cv-00083-EJL Document 1 Filed 02/25/16 Page 1 of 107 Laurence (“Laird”) J. Lucas (ISB # 4733)
[email protected] Todd C. Tucci (ISB # 6526)
[email protected] Talasi B. Brooks (ISB # 9712)
[email protected] Advocates for the West P.O. Box 1612 Boise, ID 83701 (208) 342-7024 (208) 342-8286 (fax) Attorneys for Plaintiffs IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF IDAHO WESTERN WATERSHEDS PROJECT, ) No. 1:16-cv-83 WILDEARTH GUARDIANS, CENTER ) FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, and ) COMPLAINT PRAIRIE HILLS AUDUBON SOCIETY, ) ) Plaintiffs, ) v. ) ) JANICE SCHNEIDER, Assistant ) Secretary of Interior; BUREAU OF LAND ) MANAGEMENT; and U.S. FOREST ) SERVICE, ) ) Defendants. ) INTRODUCTION 1. Plaintiffs challenge Defendants’ recent decisions approving amended or revised land use plans for Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) and U.S. Forest Service lands across the range of the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in Idaho and other states, which fail to ensure that sage-grouse populations and habitats will be protected and restored in accordance with the best available science and legal mandates COMPLAINT -- 1 Case 1:16-cv-00083-EJL Document 1 Filed 02/25/16 Page 2 of 107 of federal law including the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (“FLPMA”), the National Forest Management Act (“NFMA”), and the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”). 2. In response to potential Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) listing and this Court’s remand order in a related sage-grouse/land use plan case, see W. Watersheds Project v. Salazar, No. 08-cv-516-BLW, 2012 WL 5880658 (D.