United States Forest Service v. Cowpasture River Preservation Assn.

Background

A pipeline company applied in 2015 to build a roughly 604-mile natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to North Carolina that would cross parts of the George Washington National Forest and pass beneath the Appalachian Trail. The Forest Service issued special-use permits in 2018, approving a right-of-way for a short underground segment located about 600 feet below the Trail. Several conservation groups challenged the permits in the Fourth Circuit, arguing the Trail is land in the National Park System and that the Forest Service lacked authority under the Mineral Leasing Act to grant the pipeline right-of-way.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the Forest Service had authority under the Mineral Leasing Act to grant a pipeline right-of-way across lands in a national forest that are traversed by the Appalachian Trail. The Court held that the Trails Act created a limited trail easement and administrative duties for the agency that runs the Trail, but it did not transfer ownership or remove the underlying land from Forest Service control. Because the land remains national forest land, the Mineral Leasing Act permits the Forest Service to grant pipeline rights-of-way. The Court reversed the Fourth Circuit and sent the cases back for further proceedings consistent with that holding.

Real world impact

The decision makes it possible for the Forest Service to approve pipeline rights-of-way under trails located on national forest land, affecting pipeline companies, federal land managers, and conservation groups. Some environmental and procedural claims were not resolved here; the cases were remanded for further review of other permitting and environmental issues.

Dissents or concurrances

A dissenting opinion argued the Appalachian Trail is land in the National Park System based on statutes and longstanding agency practice and would have left the lower court's vacatur in place.