Bighorn National Forest Drops Sourdough Timber Sale

by Kelly Matheson

Yielding to pressure from WOC and its conservation allies, the U.S. Forest Service has withdrawn its decision to proceed with the Sourdough timber sale in the Bighorn National Forest.

The below-cost Sourdough sale would have cut 1.2 million board feet of timber, allowing as many as four clearcuts totaling up to 250 acres. It would have damaged important habitat for a number of species, including goshawk, elk, marten and the threatened lynx. The sale would also have degraded water quality in the Clear Creek watershed and sacrificed a popular recreation area near the Cloud Peak Wilderness.

In light of the Sourdough sale's significant impacts on wildlife, water quality and recreation opportunities, WOC, American Wildlands, Big Horn Forest Users Coalition and retired Bighorn Forest silvaculturalist Robert Damson filed a lawsuit in federal court in August demanding that the Forest Service withdraw the sale and asking the court to prohibit any new timber sales on the Bighorn National Forest.

First, the lawsuit noted, the Forest Service had failed to set a limit on the amount of timber that could be removed from the Bighorn on a sustained-yield basis each year, as required by the National Forest Management Act (NFMA). Second, the agency had violated its own regulations which require it to monitor populations of key "indicator" wildlife species. The Forest Service had committed itself to monitoring seven species living in the Sourdough sale area, but had completed no monitoring studies at the time we filed suit.

In mid-October, the Forest Service announced that it would withdraw the Sourdough timber sale.

"I'm gratified that the agency has finally pulled this damaging timber sale," said former WOC staff attorney Caroline Byrd, who led early challenges to the Sourdough sale. "The forest's landscapes, wildlife and streams deserve the chance to recuperate from decades of over-cutting. I hope the Bighorn National Forest has finally started on the road to recovery."

As we go to press, the Forest Service has not responded to our lawsuit's corollary demand that no new timber sales be conducted on the Bighorn until indicator species are monitored and a valid timber-harvest level has been set for the forest. WOC and our conservation allies will continue to challenge the Bighorn's timber program until the Forest Service complies with NFMA and its own regulations.