Tag: Apache National Forest

HEBER, Ariz. — A federal judge has limited a preliminary injunction to the Sitgreaves National Forest, ruling it no longer applies to the Apache National Forest after determining the challenged U.S. Forest Service actions were confined to the Sitgreaves. The ruling came days after the Center for Biological Diversity sought to intervene, arguing in court filings that unauthorized free-roaming horses had denuded portions of federally designated critical habitat for the endangered New Mexico meadow jumping mouse on the Apache National Forest.

The Apache National Forest and Sitgreaves National Forest are often referred to together as the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, but they remain two distinct national forests that have been managed under a single administration since 1974. A federal court is now being asked to determine whether an injunction issued in the case extends across both forests or is limited to the Sitgreaves National Forest.