Environmentalists file suit to stop logging

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published December 19, 2001

BEND, Ore. -- A coalition of environmental groups has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service to stop the logging of 500 charred acres on the Ochoco National Forest.

The lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland claims harvesting the trees could destroy watersheds, cause erosion and harm local plants and animals.

Logging could begin next week unless a federal judge intervenes.

The environmentalists say the wildfire that charred the wood has also made the soil abnormally sensitive. The Forest Service hopes to harvest 4.8 million board- feet of timber.

"This is a controversial logging practice," said Mark Fink, attorney for the Western Environmental Law Center. "Logging there now will increase sediment and erosion, and could have a major impact on the wildlife in the area."

Fink said redband trout -- a species currently under consideration for protection under the Endangered Species Act -- live in streams that would be affected by the logging.

Region forester Harv Forsgren on Dec. 5 rejected an appeal of the decision to log the area.

Fink has requested a temporary restraining order, which would prohibit any logging until a federal judge rules in the dispute. The court should decide soon if it will issue the restraining order, Fink said.

Art Currier, district ranger for the Prineville Ranger District, said the acreage has a "multiple use" designation that allows for timber harvest. The logging plan calls for cutting burned trees that are larger than one foot in diameter, he said.

"The fire burned a lot of large trees, and every day the trees stand out there, decay sets in, and they lose their value," he said.

But environmentalists say the trees would do more good if they rotted on the forest floor, returning nutrients to the soil.

"This piece of ground just went through a major transition when it burned," said Sandy Lonsdale of the Sierra Club. "Now is the time to leave it alone and let it heal."

The Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project, the American Lands Alliance, the Sierra Club and the Northwest Environmental Defense Center have joined in the lawsuit.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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