Genesis of 2012 Planning Rule &USFS Federal Register Notice of Revised Management Plan
- Anne Boswell Taylor
- 24 hours ago
- 6 min read
By Norman Kincaide
The Genesis for using the 2012 Planning Rule for the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands (CCNG) Draft Assessment for a revised management plan originated in 2006 with a “test case” for the United States Forest Service (USFS) 2005 Planning Rule developed during the George W. Bush administration. This draft emphasized collaborative, science-based multiple-use management: grazing, energy development, wildlife conservation, and recreation, while addressing the limitations of the 1984 Draft Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP).
The USFS began the Draft LRMP revision process for the Pike-San Isabel National Forests and CCNGs in 2006, including public scoping under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). A Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) was prepared focusing on issues like overgrazing, oil/gas leasing, prairie dog habitat protection, and cultural sites.
Environmental groups like WildEarth Guardians criticized the draft for weak safeguards under the 2005 Rule, proposing alternatives that prioritized biodiversity over industrial uses. Public comments were solicited, but no full Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was issued at this stage. This Rule was enjoined and set aside on March 30, 2007 by Citizens for Better Forestry v. USDA, 481 F.Supp. 2d 1059 (N.D. Cal. 2007), the court finding the Forest Service violated NEPA by not preparing an EIS or allowing public comment and violated Endangered Species Act (ESA) by not consulting with wildlife agencies.
The USFS promulgated a 2008 Planning Rule on April 21, 2008, replacing the 2000 Rule, which had been reinstated after the 2005 Rule was enjoined. This rule aimed to streamline forest management under the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) by eliminating mandatory species viability requirements, replacing Management Indicator Species with more flexible ecosystem diversity, removing the 2000 Rule binding standards for wildlife protection, allowing Environmental Management Systems (EMS) as a substitute for NEPA compliance for plan revision and shortening public comment periods with reduced procedural safeguards.
WildEarth Guardians, Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife challenged the 2008 Planning Rule in U. S. District Court in Colorado. The Court found summary judgment for the plaintiffs on December 9, 2011, that the 2008 Rule violated NFMA by removing enforceable standards for species diversity. The Rule’s EIS was inadequate, failing to consider alternatives that retained viability standards, did not analyze cumulative impacts on wildlife and the EMS was not a lawful substitute for NEPA. The agency’s reversal of the 2000 Rule violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) as arbitrary and capricious as there was no reasoned explanation for abandoning viability protections and for failing to respond to significant public comments. It also violated the ESA by failing to initiate Section 7 consultation with Fish & Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service. As a result of these findings the 2008 Rule was vacated nation-wide and the 2000 Rule reinstated. WildEarth Guardians v. U.S. Forest Service, 828 F. Supp. 2d 1220 (D. Colo. 2011)
The Obama administration did not appeal the decision and began developing the 2012 Rule, which restored species viability and strengthened NEPA compliance. This case blocked the Bush era deregulation of forest planning while reinforcing judicial oversight of NFMA substantive mandates and has been cited in later challenges to agency rollbacks.
The USFS currently applies the 2012 Planning Rule, which mandates comprehensive assessments, EIS processes, and greater public and Tribal involvement. The 2006 draft LMRP for CCNG was effectively superseded; no Record of Decision was issued, and the 1984 LRMP remained in effect for the grasslands. The concerns and priorities outlined in the 2012 Planning Rule do not reflect the current realities concerning climate change and lack of an actual crisis that portends climatic catastrophe nor the attitude of the current federal administration towards climate change and carbon or CO2 sequestration.
On November 8, 2024, the USFS published a Federal Register notice initiating a separate LRMP revision for the CCNGs. “Currently, the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands receive management direction from the 1984 Pike and San Isabel National Forests and Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands Land and Resource Management Plan. Ultimately, this process will result in a new, separate plan for the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands and will guide all resource management activities on the grasslands for approximately fifteen years, while the remaining portion of the existing 1984 plan for the Pike and San Isabel National Forests will remain unchanged.” Federal Register, Vol. 89, No. 217, Friday, November 8, 2024, Notices, 88716.
Significant dates were cited: “In spring 2024 the Forest Supervisor of the Pike and San Isabel National Forests and Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands and staff initiated engagement with the Tribes followed by additional outreach to county, state and other Federal agencies. In April 2024, the Forest Supervisor sent Tribes formal government to government invitations to consult on the plan. In addition, in September 2024, the Forest Supervisor sent Tribes invitations to serve as cooperating agencies for the plan revision process. Counties and other local governments will also be given the opportunity to serve as cooperating agencies in the planning process. Extensive engagement with stakeholders, Tribes, Federal government agencies, local governments, and nonprofits groups is planned throughout the assessment phase.” Federal Register, Vol. 89, No. 217, Friday, November 8, 2024, Notices, 88716.
Otero County Commissioners were notified of the CCNG Land Management Plan revision process November 8, 2024 via email. A Baca County Commissioner may have received the same email, but may have deleted it. Las Animas County Commissioners may have received the November 2024 email as well. Timpas and Carrizo Grazing Association allotment owners were not notified until their annual meetings in January 2025.
It appears the Forest Service failed to keep allotment owners informed of the process, even though email addresses were collected at the annual meetings. It was only by chance that one of the Timpas Unit allotment owners became aware of the Forest Service Zoom meetings in August and September 2025 that allotment owners became involved in the Zoom Chat meetings. The reluctance of Forest Service employees on September 16, 2025, to disclose the contractor who compiled the Draft Assessment indicated more evidence of failure to disclose and a lack of adequate transparency in the revision process.
Yet the Tribes were notified of and invited to consult on this process in April 2024, then invited as cooperating agencies in September. If the notification process for this Forest Service Draft Assessment is flawed, then public participation is compromised. Furthermore, if the Forest Service 2012 Planning Rule applied to the process is flawed as well as outdated, perhaps Congress should use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to invalidate it with a simple majority. Thus, alleviating the application of a cumbersome and excessively regulatory process. If that is not feasible, then perhaps invalidating the Draft Assessment using the CRA is a viable alternative.
The Congressional Review Act (CRA) requires agencies to report any new rules to Congress which has 60 days to disapprove the rules before they go into effect. To disapprove a rule both Houses must pass a joint resolution by simple majority and are not subject to filibuster in the Senate, which the president then must sign like any other law.
In the latest resolutions, the Senate used the CRA to rescind Bureau of Land Management plans adopted by Miles City Montana Field Office, locking up virtually all of Montana’s coal deposits in the Powder River Basin, the North Dakota Resource Management Plan, which walled off over four million acres of public land in North Dakota, prohibiting coal leasing on virtually all that state’s coal deposits and the Central Yukon plan barred an LNG pipeline and other economic activity on over 13 million acres in Alaska. Perhaps the CCNG Draft Assessment issue could test the boundaries of the CRA by invalidating a draft assessment for a revised management plan before the plan is adopted by the Forest Service.
Sources
Grok Summary on X of Citizens for Better Forestry v. United States Department of Agriculture, 481 F.Supp. 2d 1059 (N.D. Cal. 2007), November 3, 2025
Grok Summary on X, of WildEarth Guardians v. U.S. Forest Service, 828 F. Supp. 2d 1220 (D. Colo. 2011), October 28, 2025.
Email: Tim Knabenshue, OteroCC to Norman Kincaide, October 29, 2025
Phone Conversation with Shiloh Freed, Baca County Commissioner, October 2025
Phone Conversation with Tony Hass, Las Animas County Commissioner, November 5, 2025
Comments