Sierra Club Sues US Forest Service for Endangered Species in Southern Appalachian Forests
by René Voss
~~ For Immediate Release ~~ 12:00 PM - July 13, 2000
Contact: Eric Huber - EarthJustice Legal Defense Fund (504)
522-1394
Andrew George- Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project (828)
258-2667
René Voss - Sierra Club (202) 547-9124
NATONAL FOREST LAWSUIT FILED TO PROTECT SOUTHERN WILDLIFE
Rare Birds, Fish in Southern US Harmed by National Forest Logging
Atlanta (GA) - On behalf of a coalition of Southern Appalachian forest protection groups, EarthJustice filed suit in Federal Court today to stop logging in National Forests from wiping out rare birds and fish in the Southeastern U.S. Despite a previous court ruling that the U.S. Forest Service must examine the ways logging will harm rare species, the Forest Service has continued to allow logging that destroys sensitive animal habitat. This suit aims to halt that destruction.
"We again have to seek relief from a federal court to halt destructive logging because the US Forest Service refuses to comply with their duty to protect rare and sensitive species in our southern National Forests," said René Voss of the Sierra Club Board of Directors. "Many declining bird species such as wood warblers and various darters and other fish species continue to decline from the logging of our national forests in the South."
In February of 1999, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta agreed with Sierra Club that the law requires the US Forest Service to survey and monitor rare wildlife species in order to guage whether they remain viable or can persist and not become endangered. The court concluded that the US Forest Service did not maintain adequate data to make these scientific judgments and ordered the Forest Service to stop logging in Georgia's Chattahoochee and Oconee National Forests. That ruling also affected logging activities in Alabama and Florida.
"Many of our rare species are in decline from clearcutting on our National Forests," said attorney Eric Huber with EarthJustice Legal Defense Fund. "Logging and associated road-building destroys nesting birds, wildlife habitat, causes severe soil erosion which in turn destroys fish habitat."
"Our public forests are far too valuable to be left in the hands of an agency that blatantly ignores basic species protection requirements in order to satisfy the demands of private logging companies," said Andrew George, executive director of the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project. "In addition to the agency's illegal disregard for rare biodiversity, also on trial is the US Forest Service's culture of fraud and corruption that jeopardizes the integrity of some of the finest forests on the planet."
The case seeks to suspend logging where the Forest Service does not have the required data until it complies with the National Forest Management Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Administrative Procedures Act. The Southern Region of the US Forest Service includes 31 National Forests in Georgia (Chattahoochee and Oconee), Alabama (Talladega, Bankhead, and Conecuh), Louisiana (Kisatchie), Tennessee (Cherokee), Arkansas (Ouachita, Ozark, and St. Francis), Mississippi (DeSoto, Homochitto, Bienville, Tombigbee, and Holly Springs), Texas (Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Sabine, and Angelina), Florida (Ocala, Osceola, and Apalachicola), North Carolina (Nantahala, Pisgah, Uwharrie, and Croatan), South Carolina (Sumter and Francis Marion), Virginia (Jefferson and George Washington), and Kentucky (Daniel Boone).
Last updated: 13 Jul 00