May 21, 2001

For Immediate Release
Contact: Rachel Martin, (814) 223-4996

Conservation Groups File Landmark Lawsuit Against Allegheny National Forest Logging Project

Pittsburgh, PA A coalition of forest conservation organizations and several individuals filed suit in federal court in Pittsburgh today challenging the 8,600-acre East Side Timber Sale on Pennsylvania's Allegheny National Forest.

The lawsuit seeks to halt the East Side Timber Sale, the largest timber sale on any national forest in the eastern U.S. The Forest Service has planned as part of this timber sale over 8,000 acres of logging, including 3,000 acres of clearcutting, 3,500 acres of toxic herbicide spraying, and 125 miles of road construction and reconstruction. Conservationists are challenging the East Side on the basis that it illegally prioritizes clearcutting over the conservation of soils, watersheds, recreation, endangered species, and old growth habitat.

This is the second lawsuit against the massive logging project. The Allegheny Defense Project and Heartwood won a related case in 1997 when the East Side Project was called the "Mortality II" timber sale. In that case, federal judge William Standish, citing the U.S. Forest ServiceÕs extensive use of clearcutting and associated impacts to old growth, soils and watersheds, and endangered species, ordered the Forest Service to prepare a more in-depth environmental analysis that considered alternatives to clearcut logging practices.

"The Forest Service is attempting to manage our public national forest as a black cherry tree farm for the benefit of private timber interests," said Jim Kleissler, Forest Watch Director for the Allegheny Defense Project. "Federal law strictly prohibits the use of clearcutting primarily on the basis that it will provide the greatest dollar return."

The primary complaint brought by the groups is that the Forest Service, through the East Side timber sale, is using clearcutting in order to maximize the greatest dollar return. The groups contend that through clearcutting, herbicide spraying, and fertilizer application, the Forest Service is attempting to unnaturally propagate the high-value black cherry tree at the expense of other uses of the forest such as wildlife, recreation, and watershed protection.

"Absent extraordinary measures, such as clearcutting, followed by fertilization and the construction of hundreds of miles of fencing, extensive herbicide use and thinning to eliminate hardier species of trees, most of the forested areas of Northwestern Pennsylvania would eventually revert to a native tree species mix such as American beech and Eastern hemlock," explained Tom Buchele, attorney for the conservation organizations.

Additionally, the groups claim that the Forest Service has failed to follow through on the federal courtÕs direction to consider impacts to old growth and alternatives to clearcutting. The East Side logging project would cut directly adjacent to the 4,100-acre Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas, a National Natural Landmark and the largest tract of old growth forest between the Adirondacks and the Smokey Mountains.

"Despite direction from a federal court to prepare a detailed analysis of how logging adjacent to the Tionesta old growth would affect this incredibly unique area, the Forest Service failed to even acknowledge the cutting in their environmental impact statement," noted Rachel Martin, Outreach Program Director for the Allegheny Defense Project.

The suit also challenges the adequacy of the Forest Service's recent attempt to update its 15-year-old Forest Plan, which sets guidelines for the management of the Allegheny National Forest, to provide increased protections for threatened and endangered species.

"The Forest Service ignored recommendations from the public and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to consider the potential benefits of ending the logging program on the Allegheny National Forest," explained Kleissler. "They wouldn't even consider an alternative management program that would emphasize selective cutting practices instead of the current program of clearcutting for short-term profit."

The conservationists challenged the Forest Service's failure to protect forest soils by adopting more protective measures for logging, their failure to consider impacts associated with logging and herbicide use on the national forestÕs watersheds, and their failure to meet management requirements for old growth forests. The conservationists also contend that the Forest Service failed to hold public hearings as required by federal law.

"The East Side logging project is the largest on any eastern national forest and has received more public comment than any logging project in the history of the Allegheny," said Bill Belitskus with Communities for Sustainable Forestry. "It isn't asking that much to expect that the Forest Service would hold a public hearing."

"The East Side logging project is yet another example of why we need to end the commercial logging program on our national forests," according to Susan Curry with the National Forest Protection Alliance. "Today we are laying the ground work to help conserve our forests, our watersheds, and our wildlife for future generations."

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