F. Dale Robertson, Chief, United States Forest Service, et. al. v. Seattle Audubon Society et al. (503 U.S. 429)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 25, 1992 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 503 U.S. 429 · 112 S. Ct. 1407
- Decided
- March 25, 1992
- Term
- October Term 1991
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Thomas
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court. In this case we must determine the operation of §318 of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1990. I This case arises out of two challenges to the Federal Government’s continuing efforts to allow the harvesting and sale of timber from old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest. These forests are home to the northern spotted owl, a bird listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 U. S. C. § 1531 et seq. (1988 ed. and Supp. II), since June 1990. See 55 Fed. Reg. 26114. Harvesting the forests, say environmentalists, would kill the owls. Restrictions on harvesting, respond local timber industries, would devastate the region’s economy. Petitioner Robertson is Chief of the United States Forest Service, which manages 13 national forests in Oregon and Washington known to contain the northern spotted owl. In 1988, the Service amended its regional guide to prohibit timber harvesting on certain designated areas within those forests. Respondent Seattle Audubon Society (joined by various other environmental groups) and the Washington Contract Loggers Association (joined by various other industry groups) filed separate lawsuits in the District Court for the Western District of Washington, complaining respectively that the amendment afforded the owl either too little protection, or…
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