WildEarth Guardians

Friday, September 1, 2006
Timber Harvest Plans Advance

Agua-Caballos Timber Sale Decision Will Be Appealed
Contact: Martin Salazar Albuquerque Journal

Forest Service plans to harvest roughly 6.4 million board feet of timber in the Carson National Forest near Vallecitos in Rio Arriba County can move forward, a federal judge ruled last week.

U.S. District Judge James Browning rejected an appeal filed by two environmental groups in April 2005. WildEarth Guardians and Carson Forest Watch filed the appeal in hopes of stopping the timber sale, known as the Agua-Caballos Projects.

John Horning, executive director of WildEarth Guardians, vowed to appeal Browning's ruling to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

"It was a disappointing decision for sure," Horning said. "But by no means is it the final word, as far as WildEarth Guardians and the other plaintiffs are concerned."

Among the concerns raised by environmentalists was the proposed construction of new roads and a lack of limits on the size of trees that could be cut.

WildEarth Guardians argued that the timber sale could harm water quality in an already-impaired watershed and reduce habitat for a species of squirrel- the Abert's squirrel- that is being monitored because of its declining population.

Browning rejected claims that the project violated the National Forest Management Act's consistency or substantive provisions. The judge refused to address other issues raised in the appeal, finding that the plaintiffs had failed to exhaust their administrative appeals concerning their National Environmental Policy Act claims and other issues raised.

The decision drew cheers from the Forest Service.

"On behalf of the communities that live near, work on, and care about the health of our forest, I look forward to implementing the Agua-Caballos Projects," El Rito District Ranger Diana Trujillo stated in a news release.

"Located on one of only two Federal Sustained Yield Units in the United States, the projects contained within this decision will not only improve the health of the forest and habitat for wildlife that call the forest home; it will also provide wildland fire protection for communities, fuel wood for families and much needed jobs," Trujillo added.

Forest managers have estimated that the timber sale could generate around 75 local jobs and $1.2 million in wages.

At least 4,000 trees larger than 16 inches in diameter will be cut through the sale. That's true despite the fact that forest managers and conservationists agree that cutting small-diameter trees would make the biggest improvement on forest health, according to WildEarth Guardians. Horning said his group has been trying to protect the area since 1994.

"We're going to have to appeal the decision to a higher level," he said. "At this point, it goes to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. We obviously don't believe the correct decision was rendered. We're still very much of the mind that this timber sale is not in the public interest."

The Agua-Caballos Projects was initiated in 1992. It was proposed in the El Rito Ranger District as a way for the Carson National Forest to fulfill a 1948 mandate from Congress that requires the area known as the Vallecitos Federal Sustainable Yield Unit to be commercially harvested in a sustainable way to promote the local economy.

Roughly 16 percent of 25,000 acres analyzed by the Forest Service comprises the project area.

The proposal includes plans to thin about 1,700 acres, prescribe burn about 2,000 acres and make about 5,000 acres of designated old-growth forests off-limits to logging. The treatments are geared toward controlling mistletoe and insects and reducing the number of trees in densely stocked stands, the Forest Service said.

"The project anticipates that 6.4 million board feet of saw timber and 6,039 cords of pine and aspen fuel wood and aspen latillas will be harvested, benefiting local residents with wood products businesses and employing a local work force," the Forest Service stated in its release.

According to the Forest Service, three miles of new roads will be constructed to relocate existing roads out of meadows. Once activities are completed, the Forest Service said, 43 miles of roads will be closed.

But Horning, of the WildEarth Guardians, said documents he's seen show that the timber sale would lead to nearly 40 miles of new road.

Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Journal - Reprinted with permission