The Recreation HQ is concerned that OHV-related lawsuits
and related management actions could be overlooked victims of the government
shutdown.
Sequestration had already reduced the number of
Department of Justice attorneys that work on resource and recreation legal
issues. There are many unfilled judicial
appointments from even before the current belt-tightening further burdened our
judicial system. Criminal cases take
priority. The shutdown has prevented DOJ lawyers from appearing or even talking
to their agency clients. District courts
are already been focusing their limited resources toward cases with available
lawyers and parties, meaning that cases involving federal issues are all ready losing
their spots on the docket.
When the shutdown is presumably resolved,
pro-recreation interests will face new challenges, as we are hearing
indications that limited resources in DC and the field will affect the degree
to which the federal government will strongly defend Forest Service OHV travel
management decisions, or be able to address court-ordered remands or other
necessary management actions.
To give some perspective, the cases involving the BRC
Legal Team include 15 deadlines or hearings between now and the first week of
December, including two 9th Circuit arguments.
These hearings are in the process of being extended or vacated as the
uncertainty develops. When the shutdown
is resolved, DOJ lawyers will be scrambling to address the backlog that
continues to pile up while they are prohibited from working. The inability to resolve these cases
potentially affects not only resolution of long-running cases but on-the-ground
recreation options in areas including the Stanislaus, Eldorado,
Beaverhead-Deerlodge, Clearwater, Custer, San Juan and Pike and San Isabel
National Forests, as well as the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area (Glamis).
In short, every day the shutdown continues, OHV-related
cases could suffer the long-term consequences of reductions in and redirected
priorities for DOJ staff and other federal employees.
Hello out there, does anyone care? They will allow military babies to go without so I cannot see anyone caring for recreation.
ReplyDeleteObviously the Obama administration planned it that way.......Can there be any doubt???
ReplyDelete