On September 7, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that the Navy should be permitted to go forward with planning for construction of a new North Carolina airfield, even as it prepares a new environmental impact statement (EIS) for the airfield. The decision was a victory for WLF, which had filed a brief urging the court to lift a district-court injunction against all site-preparation and planning work. The airfield, desperately needed for pilots being trained to land planes on aircraft carriers, has been blocked by questions over the adequacy of the initial EIS. The appeals court held that a new EIS was required. But it agreed with WLF that the district court erred in blocking all work on the airfield while the new EIS is being prepared. The appeals court agreed with WLF that the district judge acted improperly in second-guessing the Navy’s determination that building the base is vital for national security.