Bighorn Timber Sale in Wyoming Halted
1/4/99
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Bighorn Timber Sale in Wyoming Halted
Source: Forest Guardians
Status: Distribute freely with proper credit to source
Date: 1/4/99
FRONTLINE NEWS
Monday, January 4, 1999
http://www.fguardians.org
NO. 44
JUDGE ORDERS HABITAT PROTECTION FOR RIO GRANDE MINNOW
Critical Habitat to be Designated For 170 Miles of Middle Rio Grande "As
Soon As Possible"
BIGHORN NATIONAL FOREST TIMBER SALE HALTED
Economic Analysis Insufficient to Support Commercial Harvest
HERBICIDES TO BE SPRAYED ALONG THE JEMEZ AND GUADALUPE RIVERS
Santa Fe National Forest Claims Poisons Can Be Used At Home
EDITORIAL: END COMMERCIAL LOGGING ON NATIONAL FORESTS NOW!
Boulder, Colorado Paper Wishes Forest Guardians Well in Legal Endeavor
JUDGE ORDERS HABITAT PROTECTION FOR RIO GRANDE MINNOW
Critical Habitat to be Designated For 170 Miles of Middle Rio Grande "As
Soon As Possible"
On 12-23-98, a federal court of appeals ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to designate critical habitat for the endangered Rio Grande
silvery minnow "as soon as possible." The order comes in response to a
lawsuit by Forest Guardians and Defenders of Wildlife challenging the
agency's refusal to protect the species' habitat and overturns a lower
courts' decision. The Fish and Wildlife Service argued that designation of
critical habitat was a voluntary measure. The judge, however, agreed that
the FWS could not arbitrarily postpone the designation.
The Rio Grande silvery minnow was listed as endangered in July 1994 due to
drastic population declines which resulted due to dewatering of the Rio
Grande by agricultural interests. Once designated, critical habitat will
affect water management, pollution by cities and industries and
development within the floodplain. Forest Guardians, Defenders of Wildlife
and numerous other environmental groups are engaged in a protracted effort
to protect and restore the Rio Grande ecosystem. The groups are
represented by Matt Kenna of Kenna and Hickcox. The opinion can be viewed
on Forest Guardians web page.
BIGHORN NATIONAL FOREST TIMBER SALE HALTED
Economic Analysis Insufficient to Support Commercial Harvest
The Rocky Mountain regional forester has reversed a 2.7 million board foot
timber sale (540 log trucks) on the Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming.
The reversal comes in response to an administrative appeal filed by Forest
Guardians, the Wyoming Outdoor Council, American Wildlands, and others.
The timber sale would have clearcut an area that has already been heavily
logged. The Regional Forester reversed the decision due to a failure to
adequately address big game hiding cover and economics. The Region
directed the forest to reanalyze the project and to better address hiding
cover, present net value of unlogged forests, wildlife viewing
opportunities, and any remaining appeal issues if the forest decides to
reissue the decision.
HERBICIDES TO BE SPRAYED ALONG THE JEMEZ AND GUADALUPE RIVERS
Santa Fe National Forest Claims Poisons Can Be Used At Home
The US Forest Service is proposing to control Salt Cedar, Russian Olive
and Siberian Elm along the Jemez and Guadalupe Rivers using two
herbicides. The application of Garlon 3 & 4 (industry names) would occur
along State Highway 4 between La Cueva and Canon, NM above Jemez Pueblo.
The USFS claims that there is no other proven method of controlling
noxious weeds in the Southwest yet neglects to mention the overgrazing and
heavily logged watersheds that lead to their establishment in the first
place. The pesticides would be sprayed just above the inflow to the
Village of Jemez's drinking water treatment plant, which would be in
violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The USFS has erroneously assumed
that because these herbicides can be purchased over the counter and used
on private property that they are safe for use in sensitive riparian areas
on public lands. Call Buck Sanchez at the Jemez Ranger District (505-829-
3535) with your concerns or write to the Forest Service at PO Box 150,
Jemez Springs, NM 87025.
EDITORIAL: END COMMERCIAL LOGGING ON NATIONAL FORESTS NOW!
Boulder, Colorado Paper Wishes Forest Guardians Well in Legal Endeavor
The following editorial on 12-30-98 in the Boulder Daily Camera blasts the
U.S. Forest Service for failing to consider the socio-economic, ecological
and other values of unlogged forests and provides a resounding endorsement
of the lawsuit filed in mid-december by Forest Guardians and over a dozen
other co-plaintiffs which seeks to end the commercial logging program on
our national forests.
Boulder Daily Camera
Lead editorial
Dec. 30, 1998
A novel lawsuit
The tired old debate of "jobs versus trees" that pits one industry against
the environment has just been expanded. Thanks to a first-of-its-kind
lawsuit that charges the U.S. Forest Service with neglecting the socio-
economic values of national forests, the sides have been redrawn.
The forest-management debate can now be thought of as "commercial logging
versus mycology, bird watching, photography, genetic research, private
logging, recycling, hunting, hiking, horseback riding, holistic medicine,
fishing, clean water, habitat and lodging that caters to those who seek
peace and solitude."
This month 14 plaintiffs representing diverse environmental and economic
interests filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service for failing to
measure the socio-economic values of public forest lands. If the forest
service did so, according to the litigants, it would discover that
commercial logging does significant economic harm to nearby communities.
Many have stated that commercial logging on public forest lands is not
cost-efficient and should be banned altogether. A ruling on the lawsuit is
expected in early February.
The plaintiffs have a legal basis for their claims. The forest service is
empowered by Congress to oversee timber sales on 191 million acres of
public forests, including 4 million acres in Colorado. Before the federal
agency allows a timber sale, it is legally required to show that the
benefits from selling trees are greater than the socio-economic costs to
society. The Multiple Use and Sustained Yield Act requires the forest
service to make sure forest management practices "best meet the needs of
the American people ... with consideration given to the relative
values of the various resources."
Forest Guardians, an environmental organization in New Mexico, initiated
the lawsuit and put together a synopsis of the suit, including testimony
from plaintiffs. Timothy McDevitt owns a wilderness retreat in Oregon. He
says logging "has an adverse effect on the retreat by limiting the
supply of recreation sites, increasing safety risks, noise, air and water
pollution, and irreversibly marring desirable landscapes."
Andy Mahler owns a small logging business near a national forest in
Indiana. He cannot fairly compete with subsidized logging on public lands
and has no incentive to practice sound forest management. A Vermont
company that produces paper products from recycled material is likewise
finding it difficult to compete with subsidized timber sales that supply
wood fiber to the same market at a lower price.
There is some overlap between the economic and environmental benefits of
keeping national forests intact. The former mayor of Oakridge, Ore.,
joined the lawsuit because his town spent millions of dollars purifying
its water supply that was polluted by sedimentation from logging. A
birding guide lost significant business from loss of rare bird habitat, a
mycologist lost mushroom crops and landowners lost valuable recreational
opportunities.
Everyone loses in the forest service's timber sale program. Correction:
Everyone except the forest service that keeps revenues from selling our
trees and the logging companies that buy those trees at a reduced price
because of government subsidies. Nothing goes back to the U.S. Treasury.
In fact, the federal timber sale program has been operating at a loss; The
forest service admitted to an $88 million loss last year.
U.S. Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck wrote a memo to his employees
earlier this summer, "... In 50 years we will not be remembered for the
resources we developed; we will be thanked for those we maintained and
restored for future generations."
Commercial logging on public lands is counter-productive to the forest
service's long-range goal.
We wish the litigants every success in halting this damaging and wasteful
practice.
John Horning
Watershed Protection Program
Forest Guardians
1413 Second Street
Santa Fe, NM 87505
505 988-9126
505 989-8623 fax
www.fguardians.org