Background
The U.S. Forest Service sought to remove feral cattle from the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. After decades of nonlethal efforts failed, the agency authorized lethal removal via aerial shooting in 2023. Plaintiffs challenged this under the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The district court denied a temporary restraining order, and the agency completed its removal operations in December 2023. While the appeal was pending, the Forest Service withdrew the 2023 decision memo and issued a directive ordering officers to stop using lethal methods.
The court’s reasoning
The court held that the case presented no live case or controversy because the challenged memo was withdrawn and the agency disavowed future lethal removal. The voluntary cessation exception did not apply because there was no reasonable expectation the agency would resume aerial shooting. The capable-of-repetition exception also failed because the agency directed future removals to use impoundment regulations, meaning the same action was unlikely to recur. The court vacated the district court’s judgment to clear the path for future relitigation, noting it would be unfair to force the plaintiffs to acquiesce in a judgment after the prevailing party mooted the case.
The Cattle Growers can no longer satisfy the Article III case or controversy jurisdictional requirement and the appeal is moot.
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What it means going forward
The district court’s judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded with directions to dismiss. The Forest Service is no longer authorized to use aerial shooting for feral cattle removal under the withdrawn memo.