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February 12, 2008
LAWSUIT DEMANDS HALT TO LOGGING
IN THE LOS PADRES BACKCOUNTRY
ForestWatch Seeks an Injunction on Salvage Logging in the
Day Fire Burn Area Until the Forest Service Conducts an
Environmental Assessment
Los Angeles,
Calif. – Last week, Los Padres ForestWatch filed a lawsuit in
U.S. District Court against the U.S. Forest Service, challenging
the agency's approval of a harmful salvage logging operation in
a remote section of the Los Padres National Forest in northern
Ventura County. The suit follows on the heels of a ForestWatch
appeal of the project in December of last year, and a subsequent
denial of the appeal by the Forest Service in January 2008.
A dusting of snow in
Cedar Creek along Grade Valley Road.
The Forest Service
approved the logging in October of last year, signaling the
first time that the agency has allowed large-scale commercial
logging in the Los Padres in decades. The precedent-setting
decision allows timber companies to remove all
commercially-valuable “hazard trees” within 150 feet of either
side of more than 26 miles of remote dirt roads and trails.
Officials estimate that at least 1,430 trees would be removed,
the equivalent of 150 logging trucks and 770,000 board feet of
timber.
In making its final decision on this project, the Forest Service
repeatedly rejected an environmentally-superior alternative
proposed by ForestWatch and dozens of concerned citizens. Our
alternative recommends using Forest Service crews instead of
commercial logging companies to cut hazardous trees that are
presenting an imminent danger, leaving them in place for
wildlife habitat and soil nutrients to enhance the recovery of
the post-fire landscape.
 The
ForestWatch alternative would be far less ecologically damaging
than the approved project and would be less expensive for the
Forest Service, while still protecting the safety of forest
users. The agency never provided an explanation for rejecting
this alternative, leading ForestWatch to appeal the project to
the top Forest Service official in California. That appeal was
denied last month, and officials are now preparing to announce a
timber sale and receive bids from logging companies.
“From Day One we presented the agency with an alternative that
would ensure public safety and avoid damage caused by a
commercial logging operation,” said Jeff Kuyper, Executive
Director of ForestWatch. “The Forest Service, under pressure
from the logging industry, rejected our reasoned approach every
step of the way, leaving us with no other option but to
challenge this project in court.”
Like many
other trees marked for logging with blue paint, this one has
abundant green needle growth and clearly poses no safety hazard.
The lawsuit
centers on the Forest Service’s failure to conduct even the
simplest of environmental reviews before approving the logging
project. Instead of preparing the required Environmental
Assessment, the Forest Service argues that the logging is
“routine” road and trail maintenance and thus exempt from the
usual requirement to prepare an assessment. The lawsuit argues
that this interpretation violates the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) and is inconsistent with the Forest Service’s
own policies, which only apply to smaller-scale projects like
repaving a road, pruning vegetation, cleaning culverts, and
spraying weeds in campgrounds, as being exempt from the
requirement to prepare an assessment.
“The Forest Service is trying to fast-track this logging without
the benefit of an environmental assessment that's required by
law. We’re confident that a judge will understand the importance
of protecting this fragile area that’s beginning to heal from
the effects of wildfire,” said Kuyper.
In its lawsuit, ForestWatch also argues that the Forest Service
violated the National Forest Management Act, which requires the
protection of wildlife. The Forest Service neglected to fully
consider the impacts of the project’s activities on the habitat
and wildlife of the area, including a rare species known to
inhabit Alamo Mountain, the yellow-blotched salamander. This
species is classified as “sensitive” by the Forest Service and
as a “species of special concern” by the California Department
of Fish and Game, and has limited habitat left in Southern
California.
The lawsuit, Los Padres ForestWatch v. United States Forest
Service, was filed in U.S. District Court in the
Central District of California in Los Angeles. The lawsuit seeks
an injunction against the Forest Service to stop logging until
the agency conducts an Environmental Assessment as required
under NEPA.
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