Appeal rejected in off-road vehicles case on forest use

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal by a motorized off-road vehicles users group that challenged a Forest Service decision reducing the routes available for use in the Santa Fe National Forest in northern New Mexico

A trial judge had upheld the agency’s action, but the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling Wednesday says the New Mexico Off-Highway Vehicle Alliance didn’t have a legal basis to sue.

The appellate court’s ruling dismisses the alliance’s appeal and orders the trial court to erase its own ruling and dismiss the lawsuit.