One legal observer wrote that the federal district court’s “decision seemed predetermined against the Forest Service,” that the judge had “set impossible standards,” and that he had improperly "substitute[d] his own judgment for that of the Forest Service." A career attorney with the U.S. Department of the Justice declared it to be “the worst NEPA ruling I have seen in 19 years of litigating these issues.”
Ironically, the week the judge issued his ruling condemning the Forest Service for failing to ascertain the adverse impact on the “recreational experience” of seeing an exploratory well for those visiting the Mason Tract, the price of gasoline—more likely to affect that recreational experience—hit $4.10. Celebrating their victory, leaders of the environmental groups said they wanted Savoy and the Forest Service to look elsewhere for oil and gas. "We've said from the beginning we didn't want to stop them from drilling. We want them to drill from a place that won't be harmful to the old-growth forest or the recreational experience."
One expects such nonsense from environmental groups; however, it is jarring to hear it from a federal judge. Nonetheless, that is the history of NEPA. No word yet on whether the federal government plans to fight back. If it is serious about finding oil and gas, it will!