Judge Blocks Repair of Old Logging Roads in Tongass: SOUTHEAST: Employee of Forest Service Sued Bosses Over Environmental Concern.
Posted on: Saturday, 27 May 2006, 18:00 CDT
By Paula Dobbyn, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska
May 27--A federal judge on Friday ordered the government to stop fixing up two disputed logging roads in the Tongass National Forest in Southeast.
U.S. District Court Judge John W. Sedwick sided with a U.S. Forest Service biologist who sued his bosses for allegedly violating the National Environmental Policy Act. Sedwick issued an injunction that takes effect at midnight Wednesday.
Glen Ith, a Petersburg-based biologist, said the Forest Service should not repair old logging roads without an environmental review and a public process. The roads, built for a Ketchikan pulp mill decades ago, cut through stands of old-growth timber the Forest Service plans to make available to loggers.
A lawyer for the Forest Service said the road work is routine maintenance that does not require an environmental study. Ith, with co-plaintiff Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, disagreed. They said the Forest Service is trying to promote logging by circumventing the required study and public process.
The judge found Ith's argument persuasive that the Forest Service did not follow the rules.
Some road repairs will continue to ensure public safety. But the Forest Service must stop most work. To resume, the agency will have to supply a "convincing statement of reasons" why the road work's effects on the environment are minimal, Sedwick wrote.
A Forest Service spokesman said the agency has routinely fixed up roads without environmental reviews -- not just for logging but for roads that lead to recreational areas -- but that it is re-examining that policy in light of Ith's lawsuit.
"We're certainly paying attention," said Dennis Neill.
Ith sued as a private citizen and not as a Forest Service employee. He could not be reached Friday.
Andy Stahl, executive director of FSEEE, said he's pleased but not surprised by the judge's decision because his group sees its case as solid. Stahl said the lawsuit is particularly noteworthy.
"This is the first time in history that a Forest Service employee has gained a preliminary junction on a logging project," Stahl said. "It's also the first time a current Forest Service employee has challenged a road or logging project."
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Copyright (c) 2006, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska
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Source: Anchorage Daily News
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