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 implementation of the "Knob" Timber Sale, which would log over 7 million board feet (approximately 1,500 log truck loads) of mature and old-growth forests on 578 acres in the Salmon River watershed in Siskiyou County, CA.
The Wild and Scenic Salmon River, one of the crown jewels of California, supports some of the last remaining wild summer steelhead, spring Chinook, and coho salmon runs in the state, provides world-class whitewater recreational opportunities, and is a critical source of much-needed cold, clear water to the Klamath River. The Knob timber sale would destroy almost 600 acres of ancient forest that provides critical habitat for a diverse array of plant and animal species, including the northern spotted owl, northern goshawk, fishers, martens, wild orchids, and rare salamanders.
Several logging units are located within the North Fork Salmon Wild and Scenic River corridor, threatening to degrade the "outstandingly remarkable values" for which it was designated.
"The proposed logging units target some of the biggest trees on the Salmon River and in many cases leave only the fine fuels behind," said Anthony Ambrose, National Forest Conservation Director of the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC). "Trees marked for logging include massive, fire-resistant overstory Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, and sugar pine trees, many that are 4 to 7 feet thick. Logging these trees will open up the canopy, increasing the growth of flammable understory shrubs and grass, and will make the stands hotter, drier, and more fire-prone. Many of the units are healthy, fire resistant stands that are surrounded by areas that have been impacted by previous logging and are now at high risk to severe fire. The Forest Service should focus on protecting communities by treating small, flammable fuels close to homes - not creating a more fire prone landscape by removing all the large trees."
"The Salmon River watershed is one of the wildest places in the lower 48 states, and serves as a crucial refugia for plants, wildlife, and fisheries," said George Sexton, Conservation Director of the
Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center. "The Knob timber sale, along with several other recent and proposed timber sales in the watershed, will remove much of the remaining low elevation old-growth in the area, including the last remaining critical spotted owl habitat outside of Reserves. The proposed logging plans threaten to significantly impact all of the species that depend on these ancient forests for their survival."
"Instead of pushing forward controversial, old-growth timber sales, the Forest Service should focus their activities on restoration of areas already impacted by past logging, road construction and fire suppression, said Felice Pace, Executive Director of the Klamath Forest Alliance. "Many members of the Salmon River community have been working to implement sound forest restoration and fuels reduction activities that protect wildlife habitat, soils, and water quality while reducing fire risk. Unfortunately, the Forest Service continues to approve destructive timber sales that log the last of the ancient forest in the watershed, degrade water quality and aquatic habitat, and increase fire risk."
The lawsuit filed today claims that the environmental assessment prepared for the logging plan violates provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, National Forest Management Act, Northwest Forest Plan, and Klamath National Forest Land Management Plan. Specifically, the lawsuit argues that the Klamath National Forest failed to adequately consider the cumulative impacts of the proposed logging on wildlife, water quality, and fisheries, that the Forest did not survey for sensitive and management indicator wildlife species or consider impacts to their populations, that the Forest failed to demonstrate the proposed logging would maintain aquatic conditions and forest health, and reduce fire hazard as claimed, that the Forest did not consider an adequate range of alternative actions for the proposal, and that the Forest failed to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement which analyzes the significant environmental impacts caused by the sale.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, and Klamath Forest Alliance. Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Marianne Dugan, Brenna Bell, and Sharon Duggan.
For more information and photos, see EPIC's National Forest page and www.kswild.org.
