River Runners for Wilderness v. Martin

In 2006, the National Park Service (NPS) (defendant) adopted a management plan for the Grand Canyon's Colorado River Corridor that authorized motorized-raft use, increased non-commercial-user days, and created a lottery favoring private boaters. A coalition including River Runners for Wilderness (plaintiffs) sued under the APA, arguing the plan was arbitrary and capricious because it conflicted with NPS's own wilderness-protecting management policies and two other federal statutes governing park concessions and organic park management. The district court granted summary judgment to the NPS, and the plaintiffs appealed, arguing the agency's own policies and prior wilderness designations should have controlled the outcome.