NEW CHALLENGES LOOM AHEAD

EPIC's National Forest program has achieved several heartening victories in recent months, helping to halt some needlessly destructive projects on our public lands. Two court victories saved some very special places from the chainsaw--and helped to set precedents that may save others.

Off the Chopping Block
In a single week last October we learned that federal courts upheld not just EPIC's challenge to the Divide-Auger timber sale on the Mendocino National Forest, but also the challenge brought against the Beaver Creek timber sale on the Klamath National Forest, which was jointly filed by EPIC, the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild) and the Klamath Forest Alliance (KFA).

The Divide-Auger sale would have sacrificed key high-altitude old-growth forest near the southeast corner of the Yolla Bolly Wilderness. In deciding that the sale violated environmental laws, the federal court pointed to further fragmentation of northern spotted owl habitat in a place where connectivity is a key problem, as well as the inadequate work by the Forest Service on Management Indicator Species (MIS). (For more on MIS, see "Dark Days..." on page 4.)

The Beaver Creek win saved 975 acres of older forest along the Siskiyou Crest, in a watershed already badly damaged by overcutting on private lands. Again, the judge pointed to the agency's failure to monitor MIS. In the wake of our win, the Forest Service announced not only that they've given upon that project, but that they're re-evaluating two nearby projects with similar problems. It was an inspiring reminder that effective use of law and science can still succeed in protecting the environment.

We particularly want to recognize and applaud the heroic work that KS Wild has been doing in the Klamath. It's an honor to work with such a dauntless crew.

Not every victory requires a lawsuit. In late October, the Mendocino National Forest decided to withdraw its decision to log the proposed Cold Chimney and Ocean timber sales above the Black Butte River, a key tributary to the Middle Fork Eel River. EPIC had administratively appealed the projects, citing problems that included impacts to water quality--and thus to salmon and steelhead-as well as MIS impacts.

More on the Horizon
Of course, we can't stop there. We've now taken our challenges to two other national forest timber sales to federal court. One is the East Fork/Texas Spider sale on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, which proposes to log 2,000 acres, including riparian reserves, with minimal environmental review. The threats the sale poses to fish are especially severe, because the East Fork of the South Fork Trinity River is designated as a priority area for salmonid restoration.

Most recently, the Klamath National Forest has finalized the proposed Meteor sale in the beautiful but threatened Salmon River basin. Along with the Knob sale, which EPIC and our allies are now appealing to the Ninth Circuit Court, this project would log some of the finest remaining old-growth habitat in the watershed, while increasing fire and erosion risks.

More details on all of these sales are available at
wwwwildcalifornia.org or in our 2004 primer, The Dirty Dozen,
which outlines the worst timber sales in northwest California.