A 22-year challenge to industrial geothermal development in the Medicine Lake Highlands reached a pinnacle on September 19th with the issuance of a favorable decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Ninth Circuit agreed with a 2017 U.S. District Court order that voided the 40-year extensions of 26 geothermal leases held by Calpine Corporation on thousands of acres in the Highlands—an order that BLM appealed to the higher court.

The Pit River Tribe, Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center, Native Coalition for Medicine Lake Highlands Defense, and Medicine Lake Citizens for Quality Environment are the plaintiffs in the successful legal challenge, represented by the Stanford Environmental Law Clinic.

“We are gratified by the Court’s affirmation of the plain text, logical reading of the statute,” said Deborah Sivas, director of the Stanford Environmental Law Clinic. “The decision means that if BLM wants to revive or reissue the leases, it will have to engage in meaningful government-to-government consultation with the Tribe and conduct adequate environmental review. Of course, our fervent hope is that the agency and the lessee will see the wisdom of walking away from development in this sacred landscape. We are eager to work with them toward that outcome.”