Birdman
08-09-2004, 08:33 AM
COURT UPHOLDS HABITAT MANAGEMENT PROJECT ON JEFFERSON NATIONAL FOREST
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2004
Contact: Mark Banker
814-867-7946 rgsbank@lazerlink.com
A Federal District Court has upheld the decision of the Jefferson National Forest to implement the Bark Camp habitat management project. The project had been challenged in court by The Wilderness Society and several local preservationist organizations. The Ruffed Grouse Society intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of the US Forest Service and in support of the Bark Camp habitat project.
“Obviously, we are thrilled that the court has recognized the importance of forest management as a tool to sustain healthy forests and to provide a diverse array of wildlife habitats,” says Robert Patterson, Jr., Executive Director of the Ruffed Grouse Society.
Planning for the Bark Camp habitat project began in 1997 and the original decision by the Forest Service to go ahead with the project was rendered in 2001. Subsequent to this original decision, a severe storm produced significant flooding in portions of the Bark Camp project area. The Forest Service reassessed the original decision in light of the effects of the storm and issued a new project decision in 2002. The plaintiffs then filed suit to halt the proposed habitat management project.
“These obstructionist tactics by preservationists are extremely costly,” according to Patterson. “Five years of project analysis, 2 years of litigation, literally hundreds of thousands of dollars, all because some special interests either fail to understand or choose to ignore the fact that young forest habitats are essential to the preservation of biological diversity.”
The Ruffed Grouse Society is a nonprofit wildlife conservation organization dedicated to promoting science-based forest stewardship. (www.ruffedgrousesociety.org)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2004
Contact: Mark Banker
814-867-7946 rgsbank@lazerlink.com
A Federal District Court has upheld the decision of the Jefferson National Forest to implement the Bark Camp habitat management project. The project had been challenged in court by The Wilderness Society and several local preservationist organizations. The Ruffed Grouse Society intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of the US Forest Service and in support of the Bark Camp habitat project.
“Obviously, we are thrilled that the court has recognized the importance of forest management as a tool to sustain healthy forests and to provide a diverse array of wildlife habitats,” says Robert Patterson, Jr., Executive Director of the Ruffed Grouse Society.
Planning for the Bark Camp habitat project began in 1997 and the original decision by the Forest Service to go ahead with the project was rendered in 2001. Subsequent to this original decision, a severe storm produced significant flooding in portions of the Bark Camp project area. The Forest Service reassessed the original decision in light of the effects of the storm and issued a new project decision in 2002. The plaintiffs then filed suit to halt the proposed habitat management project.
“These obstructionist tactics by preservationists are extremely costly,” according to Patterson. “Five years of project analysis, 2 years of litigation, literally hundreds of thousands of dollars, all because some special interests either fail to understand or choose to ignore the fact that young forest habitats are essential to the preservation of biological diversity.”
The Ruffed Grouse Society is a nonprofit wildlife conservation organization dedicated to promoting science-based forest stewardship. (www.ruffedgrousesociety.org)