GRANTS PASS, Ore. – From cutting the Capitol Christmas tree to minor forest thinning, the U.S. Forest Service has put hundreds of small projects across the country on hold while it examines a judge’s ruling throwing out limits on the public’s right to participate in forest decisions.
However, a forest protection group that won the ruling contended Friday the Forest Service has gone far beyond the intent of the ruling and appears to be intentionally trying to create a “train wreck” by holding up small projects.
“The reason we sued over this was this allowed them to put in a 250-acre clear-cut, an off-road vehicle trail or a prescribed burn next to somebody’s home and not allow them to comment on that,” said Jim Bensman, forest watch coordinator for Heartwood in Alton, Ill. “All these other things they are shutting down is stuff we asked the judge not to be impacted.”
The Forest Service is still counting how many projects the ruling affects nationwide, but in Oregon and Washington alone, more than 170 have been put on hold, said Northwest regional spokesman Rex Holloway.
“We are not suspending toilet maintenance,” Holloway said. “The regional forester made that perfectly clear. Routine maintenance of campgrounds and administrative sites we will continue to do. They are asking us not to do any heavy maintenance. But routine maintenance on roads, cleaning out culverts, we are not going to hold those back.”
Among the projects the Forest Service put on hold is cutting an 80-foot-tall Engelmann spruce from the Santa Fe National Forest in New Mexico to serve as the “people’s holiday tree” on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., said James Payne, Forest Service southwest regional spokesman in Phoenix.
As long as no substantive objections are raised during a 30-day public comment period starting Monday, there would still be time to cut the tree and ship it to Washington in time, Payne said.
The actions stem from a July 2 ruling by U.S. District Judge James Singleton Jr. in California that found the Forest Service was improperly approving projects without public comment or appeals under a process known as categorical exclusions. In September, the judge specified that his ruling applied nationwide.
Among the projects the Forest Service is holding up are the salvage of dead or dying trees on 250 or fewer acres, logging green trees on 70 or fewer acres, fish and wildlife habitat enhancement, and small-scale oil and gas exploration.
All the projects put on hold were approved after the ruling went into effect July 7. They will be reconsidered after the public has 30 days to comment.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
