BY GREG DART SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE March 20, 2002
A federal judge has ruled in favor of two environmental groups that sued the U.S. Forest Service to stop a timber salvage sale on 25,000 acres in the Manti-La Sal National Forest in central Utah.
U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball in Salt Lake City granted a reversal of a Forest Service decision to sell the dead trees, ruling the agency did not follow proper procedure in approving the sale of at least 24 million board feet of standing dead timber by failing to properly monitor wildlife species as required.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for Utah in April 2001 by the Utah Environmental Congress and Forest Guardians, puts a permanent hold on the sale of logging contracts unless the Forest Service complies with the ruling.
The Forest Service says dying and dead Engleman spruce need removal as a fire prevention measure. The trees began dying during an infestation of spruce beetles in 1990 after flood waters uprooted trees. Officials say the trees, aided by several years of dry conditions, could act like tinder for forest fires.
The environmental groups claim the decision in May 2000 by the Forest Service to begin the sale violated the National Forest Management Act because of an absence of adequate information on the populations and viability of the blue grouse, which is designated as an indicator species in the Long Range Master Plan for the forest.
An indicator species is an animal used to represent several other similar species in an area being studied.
The Forest Service supplied habitat trend information on the blue grouse, claiming it was adequate.
The Forest Service argued that the since the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources stopped collecting populations of the blue grouse in 1991 there are no figures available.
In the decision, the court said the Forest Service did not provide documentation that the DWR information on the birds' population was not still reliable or could have been reliably collected by the Forest Service after 1991 except that the Forest Service decided not to collect it.
Given the lack of information, there is no way for the Forest Service to meet the necessary requirements for analyzing population trends, states the court decision. "Therefore, the Forest Service's approval of the project without actual or trend population data is contrary to the governing regulations."
It is unknown if the case will be appealed.
Forest supervisor for the Manti-La Sal National Forest, Elaine Zieroth, said the mood in the Manti office on Monday, when the ruling was made public, was one of disappointment.
She said the agency will now conduct the proper studies to comply with the ruling.
"We are going to have to put a lot of time and energy that we were not planning on into counting a species. We do, however, still plan on taking those dead trees out," she said. "It might just take some more time and effort before we can do so."
The Utah Environmental Congress considers the ruling a "big win," containing the potential for larger ramifications, says Denise Boggs, the group's executive director.
"This lawsuit will hopefully set a precedent that the Forest Service will have to follow," said Boggs on Monday.
