The red-cockaded wood pecker is a small bird that lives almost exclusively in old pine forests throughout the southern United States. Its survival depends on a very specialized habitat of pine trees that are at least thirty, if not sixty, years old, in which they build nests and forage for insect. The population of this bird decreased substantially as pine forests were destroyed by clear-cutting. The population of this bird decreased substantially as pine forests were destroyed by clear-cutting. The U.S. secretary of the interior has named the red-cockaded woodpecker an endangered species.
The U.S. Forest Service manages federal forests and is charged with duties to provide recreation, protect wildlife, and provide timber. To accomplish the charge of providing timber the Forest Service often leases national forest lands to private companies for lumbering. When the the Forest Service proposed to lease several national forests in Texas, where the red-cockaded woodpecker lives, to private companies for lumbering, the Sierra Club, an environmental organization, sued. The Sierra Club sought to enjoin the Forest Service from leasing these national forests for lumbering who wins?