Utah Environmental Congress and High Uintas Preservation Council

Victory in Denver court halts large timber sale in the Uinta Mountains!

The Utah Environmental Congress (UEC) and High Uintas Preservation Council (HUPC) claim victory against the Ashley National Forest in yet another legal win at the 10^th Circuit Court of Appeals.  The Circuit Court’s order reverses a ruling issued last year from the Utah Federal District Court and stopped the massive Trout Slope West timber sale.  Located near the ridgeline of the eastern Uinta Mountains, this 9.2 million board foot timber sale (enough to fill about 8,500 log trucks) would remove some of the most valuable old growth forest left in this heavily forested region of the Uinta Mountains.

“If you were to line all the logging units side by side in one large square where one corner is the Gateway mall, the opposite corner would be Liberty Park, miles away.  And this project included clear cuts up to 100 acres each!” said UEC Executive Director Kevin Mueller who adds, “We’re thrilled to have yet another victory that halts logging on this tremendous scale in high elevation old growth forests!” 

The Appeals Court found that the Ashley National Forest violated the National Forest Management Act because it failed to use the best available science.  The court did not rule on additional issues such as Colorado River cutthroat trout and water quality protections that UEC and HUPC raised, as just one violation is enough to rule against the logging.

“This is the second Appellate Court victory for UEC in as many months using the National Forest Management Act,” said Sarah Tal, staff attorney for UEC, “The first win was the split decision in UEC v. Troyer that stopped the South Manti logging project on the Manti-La Sal National Forest.  This brings the volume of detrimental logging stopped by UEC in the last two months to about 40 million board feet.  That is enough timber to fill a line of logging trucks from Temple Square south to the Spanish Fork/Springville area.”

High value deer and elk summer range and hiding cover would have been destroyed at the landscape level by this timber sale.  Downstream water quality is already impaired, and increased erosion from this timber sale would only further harmed water quality for the community.

Thank you to all of our members for your support!

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