The Sixth Circuit held today that two non-profit corporations lack standing to challenge certain decisions of the United States Forest Service relating to its management of the Daniel Boone National Forest. In Heartwood, Inc. v. Agpaoa, the court held that the plaintiffs “fail[ed] to allege with adequate specificity the central [constitutional standing] element of injury in fact.”
The standing affidavits submitted by two of the plaintiffs’ members stated in broad terms that they use and enjoy the Forest, including an area affected by the Forest Service’s action. But that area alone comprises over 25,000 acres, and the affiants failed to identify particular forest sections or subsections that they use and that the agency action will detrimentally affect. Although the Forest Service had not raised the issue, the court concluded that the affidavits were too general to establish standing.
