Pacific Fisher Incites Tulare Co. Sawmill to Sue
By Mark Grossi, The Fresno Bee, Calif.
Jan. 12–Worried about being forced out of business, a Tulare County sawmill has sued the federal government over logging delays related to a forest animal that warrants protection as an endangered species.
The federal status of the Pacific fisher, a sleek relative of the mink and the otter, is helping to stop projects that would sustain Sierra Forest Products of Terra Bella for six months, said owner Ken Duysen.
“From what we know, we do not believe the fisher is in any danger of extinction here,” Duysen said. “We had to lay off 40 people when the timber projects were stopped in 2005. We need those projects.”
The lawsuit centers on a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conclusion in 2004 that the fisher’s decline warranted protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The animal was not listed as endangered because there were not enough funds for special protection, but the finding is having an impact on court rulings, the lawsuit said. The complaint said the 2004 finding was illegal.
Citing a technical part of the Endangered Species Act, the lawsuit alleges the Fish and Wildlife Service did not specify whether the fisher is one species spanning North America or several subspecies. The service does not have authority to list a subspecies, the complaint said.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service punted on that issue,” said lawyer Damien Schiff of the Pacific Legal Foundation, a Sacramento-based nonprofit group dedicated to private property rights and economic freedom. The group is representing Duysen.
Earthjustice lawyer Greg Loarie said the lawsuit does not appear to have a chance.
“Our view is that this is a far-out argument,” Loarie said. “I frankly don’t understand it. The Fish and Wildlife Service has the right to protect an endangered animal.”
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, and the Fish and Wildlife Service is named as a defendant.
Federal officials Wednesday said they do not comment on litigation.
The fisher figured into a timber-related court ruling last year when a judge required the U.S. Forest Service to rewrite its management plan for the Giant Sequoia National Monument and nearby land.
The judge stopped Duysen’s timber harvests, adding that the Forest Service had not considered the fisher’s imperiled condition.
Three of Duysen’s timber projects are in the 327,769-acre monument, which lies east of his business. A fourth project is near the monument.
Duysen said the projects would thin the forest, making it safer from wildfires.
Federal authorities have said overgrown forests are susceptible to large fires that can wipe out large, old trees where the fishers live.
“Fire is the greatest risk to their habitat,” Duysen said. “All our projects would reduce vegetation and help prevent catastrophic fire.”
The reporter can be reached at mgrossi@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6316.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Fresno Bee, Calif.
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