Encompassing some 5.7 million acres, the Shasta-Trinity, Klamath, Six Rivers, and Mendocino National Forests contain some of the largest roadless areas remaining in the West, including well-known places like the Trinity Alps Wilderness and remote areas like the North Fork Eel River Wilderness. The rivers in these areas were renowned for their historically large salmon runs, and many are designated under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act due to their outstanding natural values and recreational opportunities.
However, the Forest Service now has numerous logging plans slated for ancient forests and roadless areas, and rampant cattle grazing is causing serious harm to salmon and steelhead habitat. These and other damaging activities are posing serious threats to our National Forests, along with the spotted owls, coho salmon, steelhead trout, and other wonderful creatures that rely on them.
EPIC monitors all activities proposed within the four National Forests in our region, submitting detailed comments, preparing solid appeals, and seeking judicial review on the most egregious of them. Since its start in 2001, EPIC's National Forest Conservation Program has led a coalition of organizations to halt a massive, 1,050 acre logging sale adjacent to the Trinity Alps Wilderness through successful litigation, and we have won several administrative appeals.
- Underwood Roadless Area Threatened (March 25, 2008)
The Six Rivers National Forest plans to build nearly a mile of permanent road in the Underwood Roadless Area above the South Fork Trinity River. This would fragment the Underwood Roadless Area and threaten c...
- NEPA Order of Compliance (April 6, 2006 - 98KB PDF)
EPIC et al v. US Forest Service, No. C-02-2708 JCS in US District Court: EPIC sued the USFS under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on the basis that the Forest Service failed to prepare an Enviro...
- Off-Road Vehicle Policies (January 25, 2006)
The burden must be on the proponents of ORV use on public lands to create a no-harm management plan which can and will be fully implemented, and to ensure that those programs are adequately staffed and funde...
- Judge fells federal timber project (October 15, 2004)
The Eureka Times-Standard. A U.S. Magistrate judge has blocked a timber sale on the Mendocino National Forest after finding the project's full effects weren't examined.
- Ancient Forest Protected From Logging (October 14, 2004)
Court Blocks Forest Service Plan to Cut Next to Yolla-Bolly Wilderness
San Francisco - A federal judge handed down a 65-page ruling late yesterday that strikes down a plan to cut ancient forests next to the Yolla-Bolly Middle Eel Wilderness. The Court held that the U.S. Forest...
- Court Ruling in EPIC v. Blackwell, the Divide Auger Timber Sale Case (October 13, 2004 - 294KB PDF)
On Oct. 13, a federal court struck down a plan to cut ancient forests in the Mendocino National Forest, adjacent to the Yolla Bolly Middle Eel Wilderness
- Conservationists Sue to Halt Logging in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Denounce "Backwards" Bush Fire Policies (August 20, 2004)
- Public Lands Under Fire: The Attack on "Indicator Species" and the Northwest Forest Plan (April 1, 2004)
While the war wages on in Iraq, the Bush Administration continues to wage a different kind of war here at home, quietly gutting environmental regulations and protections for forests, fish, and wildlife acros...
- Federal Lawsuit Seeks Protection for Ancient Forest: EPIC Asks Court to Block Logging (December 1, 2003)
On September 30, EPIC filed a federal lawsuit to challenge a logging sale within remote, ancient forests on the Mendocino National Forest. Adjacent to the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness, the "Divide Auge...
- Federal Lawsuit Seeks Protection for Ancient Forest (September 30, 2003)
EPIC Asks Court to Block Logging Next to Yolla-Bolly Wilderness
San Francisco - The Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) filed a federal lawsuit today to challenge the U.S. Forest Service's approval of logging in ancient forests adjacent to the remote Yolla...
- Victory for Conservationists with Forest Service Fire Bureaucracy (September 11, 2003)
Historic Lawsuit Affirms Public Involvement in Fire Management Planning
A lawsuit against the Six Rivers National Forest filed in Federal District Court in San Francisco charging the Forest Service with failure to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in devel...
- Groups Sue over the Deceptive Bush Administration's "Healthy Forests Initiative" (July 1, 2003)
Garberville, CA. The Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) and seventeen other environmental and conservation organizations from across the nation filed suit yesterday against two sets of regul...
- Lawsuit Filed to Protect Remnant Klamath Old Growth (June 24, 2003)
Logging Threatens Beaver Creek and Critical Wildlife Habitat
SACRAMENTO -- Three conservation groups filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Sacramento yesterday challenging a logging plan proposed by the Klamath National Forest. The lawsuit aims to block impleme...
- Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Environmental Groups, Native American Elder in Wild and Scenic Rivers Lawsuit (June 20, 2003)
North Fork Eel River to Receive Increased Protection
San Francisco -- Federal Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton today ruled in favor of the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), and a Native American Elder, Coyo...
- Bush Administration Moves to Dismantle Northwest Forest Plan (May 23, 2003)
Loss of Protection for Wildlife is a Sweetheart Deal for the Timber Industry
Garberville, CA - The Bush administration today is expected to unveil their plan to eliminate protection for many rare and sensitive wildlife associated with old growth forests of the Pacific northwest. The ...
- Conservation Groups Challenge Old Growth Logging in Federal Court (May 7, 2003)
Klamath Plan Would Damage Wild and Scenic Salmon River
SACRAMENTO -- Three conservation groups filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Sacramento today challenging a logging plan proposed by the Klamath National Forest. The lawsuit aims to block implementat...
- Federal Court Blocks Giant Logging Sale in Trinity Alps: EPIC Prevails Again in Latest Round of Salvage Scam (June 1, 2002)
In response to a lawsuit filed by EPIC and a coalition of organizations, a Federal District Court again stopped a post-fire logging plan proposed near the Trinity Alps Wilderness Area. This "Phase 1" logging...
- Court Slaps Post-Fire Logging Plan Near Trinity Alps (April 23, 2002)
SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal District Court has again halted a post-fire logging plan proposed by the Six Rivers National Forest within a large roadless area along the western border of the Trinity Alps Wilder...
- Groups Challenge Logging In Roadless Area by Trinity Alps (July 10, 2001)
Seven conservation groups filed suit in the Federal District Court today to prevent logging of an ecologically sensitive roadless area along the western border of the Trinity Alps Wilderness in Humboldt Coun...
