A coalition of conservation groups filed suit Friday challenging the U.S. Forest Service decision to approve the Big Thorne timber sale on Prince of Wales Island. The conservation groups, Alaska Wilderness League, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, all represented by Earthjustice, sued asserting the Forest Service acted unlawfully in pushing through this massive sale based on a flawed market demand analysis that led the agency to grossly inflate the volume of needed timber.
“The Forest Service must rethink this massive old-growth logging if it is truly serious about transitioning to sustainable forest management in the Tongass. The Big Thorne sale threatens the salmon, wolves and other wildlife that help support the incredibly important recreation and subsistence economies of southeast Alaska; and it jeopardizes the vital ability of the forest to lessen the impacts of climate disruption that are already being felt around the world,” said Dan Ritzman, Alaska Program Director for Sierra Club’s Our Wild America campaign.
Conservation Director at Alaska Wilderness League Kristen Miller said, “This lawsuit is the result of continued mismanagement of the Tongass and its remaining old-growth forests. Inexplicably, the Forest Service has chosen to ignore the ecological damage Big Thorne will inflict on critical wildlife habitat. Right now the agency only has ears for the timber industry, and ignoring the harm this sale and others like it will have on the Tongass and the region’s vital fishing and tourism industries is simply not the way to run the nation’s largest and most unique national forest.”
“Big Thorne is a big mistake,” said Malena Marvin with Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. “There is no reason to unlawfully liquidate the Tongass’s remaining big-tree deer habitat when we can be managing forests for hunting, community-scale forestry, and Southeast Alaska’s $2 billion/year fishing and tourism industries. It’s time to re-tool the Tongass for local jobs that support sustainable communities without hurting the fish and wildlife Alaskan families rely on.”
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) cautioned the U.S. Forest Service on Friday not to give in to threats of litigation from environmental activists determined to stop all responsible timber harvests on federal lands. The Big Thorne sale represents the last best hope for keeping what remains of Southeast’s timber mills in operation.
From SitNews.us: https://www.sitnews.us/0814News/082514/082514_big_thorne_timber.html