SAN FRANCISCO— A federal appeals court issued its opinion reversing the decision of a lower court that would have allowed exploratory drilling east of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. The Court found the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it relied on two categorical exclusions for a single project to avoid the required environmental reviews. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s decision and overturned the U.S. Forest Service’s 2021 approval that allowed gold-mining exploration in sensitive habitat in Inyo National Forest’s Long Valley area.