July 2020 - Parks & Recreation - 33

While SAT thought that it needed " a more detailed
understanding of deer movements " if it was going to
make " management recommendations for individual
deer or clusters of units, " the court noted the SAT Final Report acknowledged that " little is known about
individual deer movements at the Seashore " to make
management recommendations for individual deer
or clusters of units. Moreover, in the opinion of the
federal appeals court, SAT had further explored the issue and reviewed other information about individual
deer or cluster of units before determining this information was " not necessary for its recommendation. "
As a result, the federal appeals court concluded: " NPS
was not required to obtain the information about deer
movement because it was not essential to a reasoned
choice among alternatives. "
In so doing, the federal appeals court also addressed
FOA's argument that the Plan/EIS failed to " address
the SAT's determination that this missing data could
better inform management decisions in each of the
diverse areas of the Seashore. " In the opinion of the
court, the terms " helpful " and " essential " were not
synonymous. Specifically, within the context of NEPA,
the court concluded " the fact that the data might have
been 'helpful' does not establish that it was 'essential'
to reasoned decision making. "

the Seashore for the private residential communities, a
maritime forest and a historic core site.
More importantly, the federal appeals court acknowledged that NPS was " not bound by the SAT's recommendations. " On the contrary, NPS had convened the
SAT to " provide scientific based input (both natural
and social) for consideration " by the interdisciplinary
team (IDT). Accordingly, as characterized by the federal
appeals court: " The SAT Final Report was simply information for the IDT to consider as it developed the
alternatives. " Moreover, as noted by the court, " the SAT
Final Report recognized that each of its recommendations presented difficulties and NPS would have to balance various factors in developing a plan for action. "
Based upon " a review of the copious administrative
record, " the federal appeals court, therefore, determined NPS had indeed taken a " hard look " at the environmental consequences of the Plan:
First, NPS had information from the studies conducted over the thirty years prior to the start of the NEPA
process. Those studies provided data on many facets of

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" Hard Look " in EIS
FOA had also argued that NPS failed to take the requisite " hard look " under NEPA in the EIS to examine " the
differences between the deer population on the eastern
and western portions of the island when making its decision. " According to FOA, the " record is replete with
evidence demonstrating that the NPS's experts recommended and developed different management strategies
for areas on the eastern portion of the Seashore and areas on the western portion of the Seashore. "
The federal appeals court acknowledged evidence on
the record indicated " the deer populations on the eastern and western portions of the island differ. " Moreover, the court found some communications among
members of SAT had suggested " it might be beneficial
to distinguish between the two populations. " That being said, the court noted: " The SAT Final Report does
not state that the eastern and western portions of the
Seashore need to be managed differently. " Instead, the
court found the SAT Final Report had provided specific management recommendations from west to east on

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Parks & Recreation

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July 2020 - Parks & Recreation

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