| United States Forest Service v. Cowpasture River Preservation Assn. | |
|---|---|
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| Argued February 24, 2020 Decided June 15, 2020 | |
| Full case name | United States Forest Service, et al., Petitioners, v. Cowpasture River Preservation Association, et al. |
| Docket nos. | 18-1584 18-1587 |
| Citations | 590 U.S. ___ (more) 140 S. Ct. 1837 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Cowpasture River Pres. Ass'n v. Forest Serv., 911 F.3d 150 (4th Cir. 2018), cert. granted, 140 S. Ct. 36 (2019). |
| Holding | |
| Because the Department of the Interior’s decision to assign responsibility over the Appalachian Trail to the National Park Service did not transform the land over which the Trail passes into land within the National Park System, the Forest Service had the authority to issue the special use permit. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Thomas, joined by Roberts, Breyer, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh; Ginsburg (except Part III–B–2) |
| Dissent | Sotomayor, joined by Kagan |
| Laws applied | |
United States Forest Service v. Cowpasture River Preservation Assn., 590 U.S. ___ (2020), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the permitting of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline under the Appalachian Trail in the George Washington National Forest. At issue were conflicting agencies and laws for those agencies. The permit was issued by United States Forest Service (USFS) which has responsibility of the national forest, while the Trail itself is part of the National Park Service (NPS), and which under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 does not allow any other government agency to issue right of way permits through its lands. In the 7–2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that due to how the NPS was assigned the Trail by the Department of the Interior, it did not transform the lands within the trail to lands of the NPS and were still within the USFS's purview, and thus ruled that the USFS could issue the permit. The case had been consolidated with Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC v. Cowpasture River Preservation Association (Docket 18-1587).[1]