In a setback for oil and gas producers and other industries, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit last week reversed a lower court’s preliminary injunction against implementation of the Clinton administration’s “roadless rule” policy, a move that now puts more than 58 million acres of national forest lands off-limits to energy exploration and production, logging, road building, recreational pursuits and other activities.

The U.S. District Court in Idaho granted the preliminary injunction to the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, Boise Cascade and the state of Idaho in 2001. The parties challenged the U.S. Forest Service’s “roadless rule” policy on the grounds that it violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

But the appellate court in San Francisco ruled last week that the district court “abused its discretion” in granting the preliminary injunction.

“Plaintiffs have demonstrated at best a serious question of liability on the merits of their NEPA claim, and [they] cannot prevail at this stage when we assess prospects of irreparable harm to all parties and the balance of hardships that would flow from the injunction,” the court opined. “Because of its incorrect legal conclusion on prospects of success, the district court proceeded on an incorrect legal premise, applied the wrong standard for injunction, and abused its discretion in issuing a preliminary injunction.”

The lower court “should have engaged in a more in-depth assessment of the balance of hardships, giving due weight to the public’s interest in conservation of natural resources…We conclude that preliminary injunction should not issue.”

The appellate court conceded this was an “unusual case” in that the plaintiffs’ purpose for challenging the injunction was for the “benefit of the environment.” Some parties argued that sensitive wildlife species made the roadless areas of the forest their homes.

The Clinton administration’s plan to effectively prohibit the construction of roads on 58.5 million acres of forest lands has been opposed by major producer groups, including the Independent Petroleum Association of America. Without the ability to build roads, producers are prevented from drilling for oil and gas.

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