The Forest Service recently granted a request by an outfitter to stay the agency’s suspension of his permit while his appeal was completed. The outfitter’s operations were suspended right before the beginning of the hunting season based on a prior alleged violation of his permit which occurred several months earlier in the summer. However, the outfitter asserted that he was never provided with an opportunity to cure the alleged violation and that this constituted a violation of federal law, regulation and even Forest Service policy.
The District Ranger who issued the suspension argued that, because the outfitter was in a probationary status and had been warned that any further violations would result in an immediate suspension, the agency was entitled to suspend him immediately without first giving him a chance to cure the alleged violation. While the District Ranger claimed that he also had suspended operations to protect the public and environment, which is a basis for immediate suspension, he had not stated those reasons in his suspension letter but had instead indicated that he was frustrated by what he viewed as repeated violations. The Forest Supervisor granted the outfitter’s request for a stay pending her final decision on the appeal.