Within an inventoried roadless area, the Dick Creek sale was originally approved in 1997. At that time, the Forest Service wisely delayed the sale largely because implementation of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule was still pending. But this past February, despite the continuing legal limbo of the Roadless Rule, the Shoshone National Forest resurrected the Dick Creek sale. After boosting the size of the sale in an internal memorandum and bypassing the required public-comment period, the forest put the sale up for bid.
The agency's internal memo modified the sale's boundaries, more than doubled the number of board feet approved for cutting and lifted the original sale's restrictions on winter logging to protect elk winter range. In short, the Forest Service created a new sale with very little supplemental environmental analysis and no opportunity for public comment, in clear violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.
Significantly, the agency failed to adequately supplement its environmental analysis to reflect substantial changes in the sale area's natural values since the sale was first proposed. For example, since 1997, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed the lynx as a threatened species, and the modified sale area sits squarely within potential lynx habitat. In addition, the Greybull wolf pack now ranges throughout the area slated for logging, as does the threatened grizzly bear. Finally, the sale is located within an inventoried roadless area identified for protection under the still-disputed Roadless Rule.
These serious concerns prompted WOC to file a notice of intent to sue and prepare to litigate. In response to our notice, the Forest Service pulled the sale admitting that, "[T]here were potentially some claims that [the Forest Service] would have a difficult time defending in court." |
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