landusepbb
08-18-2004, 08:31 AM
NINTH CIRCUIT HEARS ENVIROS APPEAL OF FOREST HEALTH CASE
August 11, 2004 - For Immediate Release
Contact: William Perry Pendley
DENVER, CO. An attempt by an environmental group to prevent the U.S. Forest Service from harvesting timber in an area burned by the devastating forest fires that swept through Arizona in 2002 was heard today by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The Forest Conservation Council is asking the appellate court to reverse a July 2003 ruling by an Arizona federal district court holding that the U.S. Forest Service had complied with federal environmental study rules as to two of the salvage sale categories and that, as to a third category, the Forest Service could perform required additional environmental studies as it conducted the harvest activity. Meanwhile, a nonprofit, public interest law firm joined in asking the Ninth Circuit to uphold the lower court’s ruling.
“The demand by environmental groups for more ‘paralysis by analysis’ must be rejected in light of the unprecedented drought conditions in almost every western county,” said William Perry Pendley of Mountain States Legal Foundation, which filed the friend of the court brief in support of the Forest Service. “The Ninth Circuit must uphold the ruling of the district court to ensure that the Forest Service has the flexibility to act in an expeditious manner to preserve forest health. The area that was so badly burned over in 2002 is still at risk for fire; therefore, it is vitally important that the Forest Service move quickly as it did in this case.”
In June of 2002, the largest forest fire in the history of Arizona, the Rodeo-Chediski fire, burned 460,000 acres, including 176,000 acres in the Tonto and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. The fires killed trees with an estimated 300 million board feet of commercial timber. Thirty communities and subdivisions were threatened by the fire; 470 structures were destroyed.
Because the dead-burned trees are a fire danger and safety hazard, the Forest Service chose to treat the area by conducting salvage sales. The Forest Service concluded that its regulations, which exempt certain activities from the need for an environmental study—a categorical exclusion—allow it to move quickly to treat 25,000 acres, which contain 24.9 million board feet of timber. The Forest Service opted to treat dead trees: that extend beyond the 150-foot safety zone in the wildland-urban interface; and that are within: 500 feet of administrative and recreation sites, 200 feet of roads, 100 feet of trails, and 150 feet of fences and utility lines. The Forest Service will treat 25,000 acres, producing 24.9 million board feet of timber. Some 20,000 acres will be treated to create defense zones along the wildland-urban interface; the remaining 5,000 will be treated to reduce safety concerns from falling trees along roads, trails, administrative sites, fences and utility lines.
Mountain States Legal Foundation is a nonprofit, public interest legal center dedicated to individual liberty, the right to own and use property, limited and ethical government, and the free enterprise system. Its offices are in the Denver, Colorado, metropolitan area.
http://www.mountainstateslegal.org/press_releases.cfm?pressreleaseid=383
August 11, 2004 - For Immediate Release
Contact: William Perry Pendley
DENVER, CO. An attempt by an environmental group to prevent the U.S. Forest Service from harvesting timber in an area burned by the devastating forest fires that swept through Arizona in 2002 was heard today by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The Forest Conservation Council is asking the appellate court to reverse a July 2003 ruling by an Arizona federal district court holding that the U.S. Forest Service had complied with federal environmental study rules as to two of the salvage sale categories and that, as to a third category, the Forest Service could perform required additional environmental studies as it conducted the harvest activity. Meanwhile, a nonprofit, public interest law firm joined in asking the Ninth Circuit to uphold the lower court’s ruling.
“The demand by environmental groups for more ‘paralysis by analysis’ must be rejected in light of the unprecedented drought conditions in almost every western county,” said William Perry Pendley of Mountain States Legal Foundation, which filed the friend of the court brief in support of the Forest Service. “The Ninth Circuit must uphold the ruling of the district court to ensure that the Forest Service has the flexibility to act in an expeditious manner to preserve forest health. The area that was so badly burned over in 2002 is still at risk for fire; therefore, it is vitally important that the Forest Service move quickly as it did in this case.”
In June of 2002, the largest forest fire in the history of Arizona, the Rodeo-Chediski fire, burned 460,000 acres, including 176,000 acres in the Tonto and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. The fires killed trees with an estimated 300 million board feet of commercial timber. Thirty communities and subdivisions were threatened by the fire; 470 structures were destroyed.
Because the dead-burned trees are a fire danger and safety hazard, the Forest Service chose to treat the area by conducting salvage sales. The Forest Service concluded that its regulations, which exempt certain activities from the need for an environmental study—a categorical exclusion—allow it to move quickly to treat 25,000 acres, which contain 24.9 million board feet of timber. The Forest Service opted to treat dead trees: that extend beyond the 150-foot safety zone in the wildland-urban interface; and that are within: 500 feet of administrative and recreation sites, 200 feet of roads, 100 feet of trails, and 150 feet of fences and utility lines. The Forest Service will treat 25,000 acres, producing 24.9 million board feet of timber. Some 20,000 acres will be treated to create defense zones along the wildland-urban interface; the remaining 5,000 will be treated to reduce safety concerns from falling trees along roads, trails, administrative sites, fences and utility lines.
Mountain States Legal Foundation is a nonprofit, public interest legal center dedicated to individual liberty, the right to own and use property, limited and ethical government, and the free enterprise system. Its offices are in the Denver, Colorado, metropolitan area.
http://www.mountainstateslegal.org/press_releases.cfm?pressreleaseid=383