1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 KLAMATH FOREST ALLIANCE, et al., No. 2:24-cv-02347-DC-CSK 12 Plaintiffs, 13 v. SCHEDULING ORDER 14 U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Pursuant to Rule 16(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the court has reviewed the 18 parties’ joint status report (Doc. No. 19) and has determined that the court need not “consult[] 19 with the parties’ attorneys and any unrepresented parties at a scheduling conference,” before 20 issuing a scheduling order in this case. Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(1)(B). 21 I. SERVICE OF PROCESS 22 The named defendants have been served as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5. 23 No further service is permitted without leave of court, good cause having been shown under 24 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b). 25 II. JOINDER OF ADDITIONAL PARTIES / AMENDMENT OF PLEADINGS 26 The parties do not anticipate the joinder of additional parties or amendment of the 27 pleadings. 28 No further joinder of parties or amendments to pleadings is permitted without leave of 1 court, good cause having been shown. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b); Johnson v. Mammoth 2 Recreations, Inc.,

(9th Cir. 1992). The parties are advised that the filing of 3 motions and/or stipulations requesting leave to amend the pleadings does not imply good cause to 4 modify the existing schedule. Fed. R. Civ. P. 16 (b)(4); see also Johnson,

. 5 Moreover, any amendment requested under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a) must not be: 6 (1) prejudicial to the opposing party; (2) the product of undue delay; (3) proposed in bad faith; or 7 (4) futile. See Foman v. Davis,

(1962). 8 III. DISCOVERY PROCEDURES 9 Discovery matters that do not implicate the schedule of the case are referred to the 10 assigned magistrate judge, who will hear all discovery disputes subject to his or her procedures. 11 (The assigned magistrate judge’s initials follow the district judge’s initials next to the case 12 number.) All discovery related filings must include the words “DISCOVERY MATTER” in the 13 caption to ensure proper routing. Do not direct delivery of courtesy copies of these documents to 14 the district judge. Counsel are directed to contact the magistrate judge’s courtroom deputy clerk 15 to schedule discovery matters for hearing. 16 All motions to compel discovery must be noticed on the assigned magistrate judge’s 17 calendar in accordance with the local rules of this court and the magistrate judge’s own 18 procedures. The written ruling of the assigned magistrate judge shall be final, subject to 19 modification by the district court only where it has been shown that the magistrate judge’s order 20 is clearly erroneous or contrary to law. See

(b)(1)(A). Pursuant to Local Rule 303, 21 any party may file and serve a “Request for Reconsideration by the District Court of Magistrate 22 Judge’s Ruling.” See L.R. 303(c). The requesting party must file and serve any such request 23 within fourteen (14) days of service of a written ruling. L.R. 303(b). The request must specify 24 which portions of the ruling are clearly erroneous or contrary to law and the basis for that 25 contention with supporting points and authorities. L.R. 303(c). 26 In addition, the assigned magistrate judge reviews proposed discovery phase protective 27 orders sought by the parties pursuant to Local Rule 141.1. However, any requests to seal or redact 28 in connection with trial or motions to be resolved by Judge Coggins must be directed to Judge 1 Coggins and comply with her Standing Order and Local Rules 140 and 141. 2 IV. ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD 3 In this action, Plaintiffs bring claims arising under the Administrative Procedures Act 4 (“APA”) and the “Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) against Defendants regarding a biological 5 opinion issued for the South Fork Sacramento Public Safety and Forest Recreation Project (“SFS 6 Project”) and whether Defendant U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated its duty to insure the 7 SFS Project is “not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the Northern spotted owl.” 8 (Doc. No. 19 at 2.) The parties agree that because Plaintiffs are seeking judicial review of agency 9 decisions, the case proceeds through review of the administrative record and through briefing on 10 summary judgment motions.1 (Id.) 11 Defendants lodged the administrative record on February 4, 2025. (Doc. No. 20.) 12 The parties have proposed a briefing scheduling on any motion to complete or supplement 13 the administrative record, which the court adopts as follows: Any motion by Plaintiffs to 14 complete or supplement the administrative record shall be filed by no later than February 21, 15 2025. If such a motion is filed, Defendants shall file their response thereto by no later than March 16 14, 2025, and Plaintiffs shall file their reply by no later than March 21, 2025. 17 The parties further agree limit the page length of such briefs, which the court adopts as 18 follows: Any motion to supplement the administrative record shall not exceed 15 pages, the 19 opposition brief shall not exceed 15 pages, and the reply brief shall not exceed 10 pages. 20 V. MOTIONS 21 The parties proposed a briefing schedule for their anticipated cross-motions for summary 22 judgment, as well as agreed-upon page limitations for their briefing. However, the parties intend 23 for their proposed briefing deadlines to be automatically vacated in the event a motion to 24 complete or supplement the administrative record is filed. Rather than setting dates that are likely 25 to be vacated, the court instead sets the following briefing schedule for the parties’ anticipated 26 1 The parties do not anticipate the need to seek discovery. Accordingly, the court will not set 27 discovery deadlines. However, if the need for discovery does arise and a party wishes to seek discovery, or a party wishes to seek a protective order from discovery, the parties shall comply 28 with the discovery procedures set forth above. 1 cross-motions for summary judgment: 2 Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment shall be filed by no later than May 23, 2025. 3 Defendants’ combined cross-motion for summary judgment and opposition to Plaintiff’s 4 motion for summary judgment shall be filed by no later than June 27, 2025. 5 Plaintiffs’ combined reply to Defendants’ opposition to their motion for summary 6 judgment and opposition to Defendants’ motion for summary judgment shall be filed by no later 7 than July 25, 2025. 8 Defendants’ reply to Plaintiff’s opposition to their motion for summary judgment shall be 9 filed by August 22, 2025. 10 The parties shall notice their respective summary judgment motions for a hearing on 11 September 19, 2025. 12 The court adopts the parties proposed page limitations as follows: all briefs except for 13 Defendants’ reply brief shall not exceed 30 pages in length, and Defendants’ reply brief shall not 14 exceed 20 pages in length. 15 VI. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE 16 A settlement conference has not been set at this time. At any time, the parties may file a 17 joint request that this action be referred to a settlement judge for the setting of a settlement 18 conference. 19 Absent permission from the court, in addition to lead counsel, the individual parties shall 20 also be present, and in the case of corporate parties, associations or other entities, and insurance 21 carriers, a representative executive with unrestricted authority to discuss, consider, propose and 22 agree, or disagree, to any settlement proposal or offer shall also be present. If for any reason the 23 representative with unlimited authority cannot attend, such a person must be available by phone 24 or video throughout the conference. In other words, having settlement authority “up to a certain 25 amount” is not acceptable. 26 VII. FINAL PRETRIAL CONFERENCE 27 Not applicable. 28 VIII. REQUEST FOR BIFURCATION, APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL MASTER, OR 1 OTHER TECHNIQUES TO SHORTEN TRIAL 2 Not applicable. 3 | IX. RELATED MATTERS PENDING 4 There is no related litigation. 5 | X. OBJECTIONS AND MODIFICATIONS TO THE SCHEDULING ORDER 6 This case schedule will become final without further order of the court unless 7 | objections are filed within fourteen (14) days of the entry of this order. The schedule, once 8 | final, shall not be modified except by leave of court upon showing of good cause. 9 The parties are reminded that pursuant to Rule 16(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil 10 | Procedure, no stipulations extending scheduling requirements or modifying applicable rules are 11 | effective until and unless the court approves them. Agreement of the parties by stipulation alone 12 | does not constitute good cause. Any request or stipulation to modify this scheduling order must 13 || set forth: 14 (1) the existing due date or hearing date; 15 (2) whether there have been prior requests for extensions, and whether these were 16 granted or denied by the court; and 17 (3) specific, concrete reasons supporting good cause for granting of the extension. For 18 example, if the reason for the requested extension is that it “will promote 19 settlement,” the requesting party or parties must indicate the status of ongoing 20 negotiations, 1.e., have written proposals been exchanged; is counsel in the process 21 of reviewing a draft settlement agreement; has a mediator been selected. 22 73 IT IS SO ORDERED. □ o4 | Dated: _February 7, 2025 DUC Dena Coggins 25 United States District Judge 26 27 28