Survey and Manage History and Update

On September 30, 2002, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior entered into a settlement agreement with Douglas Timber Operators and the American Forest Resource Council concerning a lawsuit involving the 2001 Record of Decision for Amendments to the Survey and Manage, Protection Buffer, and other Mitigation Measures Standards and Guidelines. The settlement agreement required the Agencies to examine, in a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) an alternative "that replaces the Survey and Manage mitigation requirements with existing Forest Service and BLM special status species programs to achieve the goals of the Northwest Forest Plan through a more streamlined process." The selected alternative in the January 2004 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to Remove or Modify the Survey and Manage Mitigation Measures Standards and Guidelines was Alternative 2.

The March 2004 Record of Decision to Remove or Modify the Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure Standards and Guidelines documents this decision and the reasons for selecting Alternative 2. This alternative discontinued the Survey and Manage program and assumed transfer of selected Survey and Manage taxa to Agency Special-Status Species Programs (SSSP).

A coalition of environmental and conservation groups filed suit against the Departments of Agriculture and Interior challenging the 2004 decision to eliminate the Survey and Manage program. On August 1, 2005, Judge Pechman issued an Order (Northwest Ecosytem Alliance et al. v. Mark E. Rey et al., No. 04-844P, W.D. Wash) that found the agencies deficient in three areas. On January 9, 2006, Judge Pechman set aside the 2004 Record of Decision and reinstated the January 2001 Record of Decision including any amendments or modifications to the 2001 ROD that were in effect as of March 21, 2004. On October 11, 2006, the court modified the January 9, 2006 injunction to provide relief to the federal agencies; it allowed for four exemptions to the Survey and Manage mitigation measure. To address the deficiencies identified in the August 1, 2005 Order, the agencies prepared a Supplement to the 2004 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) to Remove or Modify the Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure Standards and Guidelines (June 2007).

On July 24 and 25, 2007, the FS and BLM, respectively, signed Records of Decision adopting the proposed action of the June 2007 FSEIS eliminating the Survey and Manage standards and guidelines once again.

On July 22, 2008, a coalition of environmental and conservation groups (Conservation Northwest et. al.) filed suit against the 2007 Final SEIS and Records of Decision, and the biological opinion of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. On September 22, 2008, the Federal agencies filed their response to the plaintiffs’ complaint with the U.S. District Court Western District of Washington. No other legal timelines have been set by the court at this time.

Please go to the Survey & Manage 2006 page on the Regional Ecosystem Office website to access documents associated with the Survey and Manage program.

Annual Reports

• Fiscal Year 2003 Annual Status Report
• Fiscal Year 2002 Annual Status Report
• Fiscal Year 2001 Annual Status Report

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Last Updated: January 15, 2008

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