Abstract
The Forest Service has previously indicated litigation as a major cause of project delay, yet no empirical evidence quantifies case duration. This research analyzed the time to disposition for all Forest Service land management cases filed in federal court from 1989 to 2008. The median time to disposition for all cases was 534 days, or a year and a half. Forest Service losses took longer to complete than the agency's wins, and settlements had a median time of one year. Some case characteristics resulted in significantly longer times to disposition, including: 1) parties who sued the Forest Service for greater resource use, 2) litigation originating in the Forest Service's Rocky Mountain and Northern Regions, 3) challenges involving a management decision on an oil and gas project or an access issue, and 4) cases involving the National Forest Management Act. Increasing caseload was significantly associated with longer times to disposition as well as whether a Court of Appeal decision was published (often a proxy for case complexity). In addition to providing accurate data that can inform policymakers' choices, this study confirmed many policymakers' and stakeholders' perceptions of legal challenges as time consuming.