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This Article assesses the impact of judicial review on one of the nation's foundational environmental statutes, the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"). Based on litigation spanning fifteen years, we find that the stringency of judicial review is driven by the interaction of judicial ideology and presidential politics. Our principal findings are two-fold: First, judicial ideology, here defined by political party affiliation, is most influential when NEPA's environmental goals conflict with the politics of the presidential administration in power. Second, the influence of judicial ideology is mediated by the distribution of cases across federal circuits and the ideological balance of judges within them; specifically, the concentration of NEPA cases in the Ninth Circuit, where liberal appellate judges are in the majority. Under well-defined conditions, we find that judicial review is most demanding when the risk of statutory subversion is greatest--that is, when the politics of an administration conflict with the purpose of the governing statute. The normative and practical implications of these observations are illustrated by comparing NEPA with the expanding array of legal mandates that prescribe elaborate economic cost-benefit analyses. Most recently, the Trump Administration has issued a raft of executive orders and Congress is considering new legislation that augment the economic reviews required under existing laws and regulations. Understanding the interplay between presidential politics and judicial review provides new grounds for concern that, unlike NEPA, the pending statutes could seriously disrupt and delay agency decision-making processes. Further empirical study of judicial review under a range of statutes is needed to determine how broadly our findings apply to judicial review of agency action across the federal government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI), an initiative for the restoration of the ponderosa pine forest stretching across northern Arizona and seeks to reduce the threat of destructive wildfire to thriving forest communities. It also mentions that 4FRI works for the project area analyzed in the first Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and the restoration projects already approved in other National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The article focuses on the efforts of the Nature Conservancy, non-profit conservation organization dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity across the world, in collaboration with U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to support meaningful efforts to restore forests. It mentions that multiple changes in land use such as livestock grazing; harvesting of commercial sawtimber; and fire suppression. It also mentions that National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) mandates the forest management actions.

The article focuses on the increase in the public participation and collaboration in federal forest management and public engagement for the forest restoration. It mentions that result of collaboration environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) will be improved leading to better natural resource management decisions. It also mentions that Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI), a collaborative effort to restore ponderosa pine forest.

The article focuses on several wildfire incidents at the Bray Creek Ranch, Highline National Recreation Trail in Arizona and the forest burning which has been planned pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). It mentions that incident of February 2006 campfire as the fire reached the fuel break it dropped from the canopy to the ground and skipped through and it was safe enough for firefighters to remain and prevent the loss of the historic structures and orchards.