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Opinion of the Court
12.6. With him on the briefs were Solicitor General Waxman, Assistant Attorney General Schiffer, and Deputy Solicitor General Kneedler.
Steven P. Quarles argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs were Clifton S. Elgarten, Thomas R. Lundquist, and William R. Murray.
Frederick M. Gittes argued the cause for respondents. With him on the brief were Patti A. Goldman, Todd D. True, and Alex Levinson.*
Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.
The Sierra Club challenges the lawfulness of a federal land and resource management plan adopted by the United States Forest Service for Ohio's Wayne National Forest on the ground that the plan permits too much logging and too much clearcutting. We conclude that the controversy is not yet ripe for judicial review.
I
The National Forest Management Act of 1976 (NFMA) requires the Secretary of Agriculture to "develop, maintain, and, as appropriate, revise land and resource management plans for units of the National Forest System." 90 Stat. 2949, as renumbered and amended, 16 U. S. C. § 1604(a). The System itself is vast. It includes 155 national forests, 20 national grasslands, 8 land utilization projects, and other lands that together occupy nearly 300,000 square miles of land located in 44 States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. § 1609(a); 36 CFR § 200.1(c)(2) (1997); Office of the
*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed for the Alabama Forestry Association et al. by Charles Rothfeld; for Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics et al. by Michael Axline; for the Pacific Legal Foundation by Robin L. Rivett; for the Southeastern Ohio Oil & Gas Association by James S. Huggins and M. Dale Leeper; and for the Washington Legal Foundation et al. by Daniel J. Popeo and Richard A. Samp.
William V. Luneburg filed a brief for the Institute for Fisheries Resources et al. as amici curiae.
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