Under federal law, permits remain valid until the renewal application is decided. The USFS lacks resources to review applications in a timely manner, so it pri

Under federal law, permits remain valid until the renewal application is decided. The USFS lacks resources to review applications in a timely manner, so it priorities the ones that are actually important (which, honestly, Nestle's is not). So they can't simply say "hold off until we check this out", because that's illegal; the permit is valid until they process the renewal. Nor could they simply deny out of hand every application they don't have resources to review; that would also be illegal. The real answer would be to overhaul the entire system, streamline it, and see that it has proper funding (probably via some hefty application fees). But that's not going to happen any time soon. (See also: Every other god damn branch of government. Although the patent office is experiencing an especially similar issue.)