Utah Environmental Congress:
In The News

Fishlake: The judge says the environmental group didn't prove the negative impact of the Forest Service project
By Joe Baird
The Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake Tribune
 

A federal judge has rejected an environmental group's attempt to halt a timber project in Fishlake National Forest.
   Ruling that the Utah Environmental Congress (UEC) can't show "that a disqualifying extraordinary circumstance truly exits," U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball has cleared the way for the Forest Service to commence what is known as the Seven-Mile Spruce Beetle Management Project - a 123-acre logging effort aimed at clearing diseased trees and eradicating the invasive species responsible for it.
   "We feel it's a good project. We're looking forward to having the opportunity to move ahead with it," said Fishlake National Forest spokeswoman Davida Carnahan.
   The UEC argued that the Forest Service acted inappropriately by invoking the Healthy Forest Initiative, which allows smaller timber projects (under 250 acres) to proceed without a full environmental study.
   The Forest Service, the environmental group said, acted improperly by invoking the initiative's "categorical exclusion" in assessing the project's impact on what are known as "indicator species" that monitor the overall health of the forest habitat. In this case, the UEC charged, impacts of the project on the three-toed woodpecker and goshawk were being ignored.
   Kimball rejected those arguments and others, ruling that the Forest Service provided "adequate evidence" for him to conclude that there will be no "significant impacts" on those species in the project area.
   UEC Executive Director Kevin Mueller says his group probably will likely appeal the decision, noting that earlier court decisions have supported their position."This is an abuse of the Healthy Forest Initiative," said Mueller. "Managing the indicator species is a no-brainer because the 10th Circuit [Court of Appeals] has ruled on it in the last 10 months."
   
Published April 30, 2005