Buckingham v. Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture

603 F.3d 1073, 40 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20131, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 8890
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedApril 29, 2010
DocketNo. 09-15893
StatusPublished
Cited by49 cases

This text of 603 F.3d 1073 (Buckingham v. Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Buckingham v. Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 603 F.3d 1073, 40 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20131, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 8890 (9th Cir. 2010).

Opinion

MILAN D. SMITH, JR., Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff Kenneth R. Buckingham filed a complaint in the District of Nevada against the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Chief of the United States Forest Service, the Regional Forester for the Intermountain Region, the Forest Supervisor for the HumboldtToiyabe National Forest, and the District Ranger for the Santa Rosa Ranger District (collectively, the Forest Service). Buckingham sought judicial review, pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), of the Forest Service’s decision to cancel his permit to graze cattle in the Santa Rosa Ranger District of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, claiming, inter alia, that the Forest Service: (1) erroneously enforced a permit lacking clearly defined pasture boundaries; (2) violated Buckingham’s Fifth Amendment procedural due process rights by not affording him adequate pre- or post-deprivation procedures; (3) failed to give him notice and an opportunity to demonstrate or achieve compliance as required by the APA, 5 U.S.C. § 558(c); and (4) improperly considered Buckingham’s prior history of non-compliance with his permit in making its decision. The district court upheld the Forest Service’s decision, and this appeal followed. We have jurisdiction to review this decision under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

BACKGROUND

I. Legal Background

The Forest Service manages 155 national forests, 20 national grasslands, and 8 land utilization projects on over 191 million acres of land within the United States (collectively, the National Forest System). 36 C.F.R. § 200.1. The Forest Service administers the National Forest System under the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (NFMA), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1600-1614, which “establishes a two-step process for forest planning,” Native Ecosystems Council v. U.S. Forest Serv., 418 F.3d 953, 957 n. 1 (9th Cir.2005). First, the Forest Service develops a land and resource management plan (Forest Plan) for each unit of the National Forest System. Id. (citing 16 U.S.C. § 1604(a)). Second, “the Forest Service implements each Forest Plan by approving or disapproving site-specific actions.” Id.

The Forest Service authorizes grazing within the National Forest System on “allotments” pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), 43 U.S.C. §§ 1701-1787. “Allotments” are “designated area[s] of land available for livestock grazing.” 36 C.F.R. § 222.1(b)(1). The Forest Service divides allotments into smaller areas, referred to [1077]*1077as “units” or “pastures.” Or. Natural Desert Ass’n v. U.S. Forest Serv. (ONDA), 465 F.3d 977, 979 n. 2 (9th Cir.2006).

The Forest Service exercises its authority under the FLPMA to permit grazing on allotments by way of three different types of site-specific actions, see ONDA, 465 F.3d at 979-80, all of which must be consistent with the applicable Forest Plan, see 16 U.S.C. § 1604(i). First, the Forest Service issues grazing permits, which are “documents] authorizing livestock to use National Forest System or other lands under Forest Service control for the purpose of livestock production.” 36 C.F.R. § 222.1(b)(5); see also 43 U.S.C. §§ 1702(p), 1752(a). Typically, a grazing permit will specify: “(1) the number, (2) kind, (3) and class of livestock, (4) the allotment to be grazed, and (5) the period of use.” ONDA 465 F.3d at 980. The standard term of a grazing permit is ten years. See 43 U.S.C. § 1752(b); 36 C.F.R. § 222.3(c)(1). The Forest Service “is authorized to cancel, modify, or suspend grazing and livestock use permits in whole or in part” if the permittee fails to comply with the requirements of his or her permit, or with governing regulations. Id. § 222.4(a)(4).

Second, the Forest Service develops an “allotment management plan” (AMP), which is “a document that specifies the program of action designated to reach a given set of objectives” as to a specific allotment, including “the manner in and extent to which livestock operations will be conducted in order to meet the multiple-use, sustained yield, economic, and other needs and objectives as determined for the lands, involved.” Id. § 222.1(b)(2); see also Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc. v. Hodel, 618 F.Supp. 848, 859 (E.D.Cal.1985) (characterizing an AMP as “ ‘the penultimate step in the multiple use planning process’ and as ‘basically land use plans tailored to specific grazing permits’ ”) (quoting George C. Coggins, The Latu of Public Rangeland Management TV: FLPMA, PRIA, and the Multiple Use Mandate, 14 Envtl. L. 1, 23-24 (1983)). The Forest Service incorporates the AMP into the applicable grazing permit unless it has not prepared an AMP or it determines that an AMP is unnecessary, in which case it includes in the permit itself “such terms and conditions as [it] deems appropriate for management of the permitted or leased lands.” 43 U.S.C. § 1752(e).

Third, the Forest Service develops and issues annual operating plans (AOPs) or instructions (AOIs). “Whereas the AMP relates the directives of the applicable [F]orest [P]lan to the individual grazing allotment ... the AOI annually conveys these more long-term directives into instructions to the permittee for annual operations.” ONDA 465 F.3d at 980. “Because an AOI is issued annually, it is responsive to conditions that the Forest Service could not or may not have anticipated and planned for in the AMP or grazing permit____” Id. at 980-81. The Forest Service typically incorporates the AOP or AOI, like an AMP, into the grazing permit, which then “governs the permit holder’s grazing operations for the next year.” Id. at 980.

II. Factual and Procedural Background

Buckingham resides in Paradise Valley, Nevada, and owns and operates a livestock operation located within the HumboldtToiyabe National Forest. In 1983, the Forest Service issued Buckingham a grazing permit for land in the Buttermilk Allotment of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest’s Santa Rosa Ranger District. The Forest Service attached a map of the Buttermilk Allotment to the 1983 permit, reflecting the Allotment’s boundaries and those of its various pastures.

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603 F.3d 1073, 40 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20131, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 8890, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/buckingham-v-secretary-of-the-us-department-of-agriculture-ca9-2010.