EPIC Defents Klamath Old Growth
Two Legal Challenges Filed in Federal Court
EPIC recently filed two federal lawsuits to challenge new logging plans in the Klamath-Trinity watershed, seeking to protect rare old growth forests and important fish and wildlife habitat. EPIC now has four active cases that involve timber sales in the Klamath Basin, all targeting remnant ancient forests, and together, totaling nearly 5,000 acres of public land.
East Fork Timber Sale
On August 20, EPIC filed a lawsuit on a giant logging sale in the East Fork of the South Fork Trinity River watershed, located in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The East Fork timber sale includes scattered old growth trees on over 2,000 acres, targeting more than 10 million board feet, or roughly 2,000 logging truckloads of trees.
The East Fork timber sale includes plans to log inside riparian and "late successional" reserves, which are both supposed to be off-limits to commercial logging. In December 2003, the Regional Forester agreed with EPIC that this logging was not justified, and overturned its approval based on our administrative appeal. However, the Forest Service soon proposed the exact same timber sale again, and though nothing changed in its plan, EPIC's second appeal was denied.
In approving the timber sale, the Forest Service admitted it would hurt species like the fisher, goshawk, spotted owl, and salmon, which depend on intact, mature forests. EPIC intends to see that this harm is never realized, and that these species are protected to the fullest extent possible.
Westpoint Timber Sale
On May 27, EPIC challenged the Westpoint timber sale in federal court, a plan that covers over 1,000 acres in the Klamath National Forest. The Westpoint contains 53 units spread over two Klamath River tributaries, with many units bordering the Marble Mountain Wilderness.
EPIC, together with the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild), is charging that the timber sale would fragment and destroy old-growth forests and other important wildlife habitat. In addition to northern spotted owls, salmon, and other imperiled species, the area contains habitat for the extremely rare Siskiyou Mountain salamander. We are also concerned that the timber sale would increase fire risks by removing the largest, most fire-resistant trees in this remote area--a pervading theme in the Forest Service's plans these days.
This article can be found online at www.wildcalifornia.org/publications/article-76