Especially when I read that Sharon Galbreath is behind this ALONG with my BUDDIES at the Soutwest Center for Biological Diversity! You see, this Sharon B!TC@ has a BEAUTIFUL home in Flagstaff near the SF Peaks, it's a 3200 sq ft home BUILT out of these LOGS this fruit loops wants to put a halt to! SHE'S NUTZ, SHE'S A FRUIT LOOP in the 1st degree!!!!
Suit filed to block logging on N. Rim
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Mary Jo Pitzl
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 20, 2004 12:00 AM
Two environmental groups went to court Thursday to block plans to cut trees on 7,500 acres of forest next to the Grand Canyon.
The debate swirls around the large, old ponderosa pines, spruce and fir trees that dot the Kaibab Plateau on the Canyon's North Rim.
Forest Service officials say they need to remove more than 51,000 trees to protect wildlife habitat, allow room for old-growth trees to thrive and to protect against wildfires.
But in a suit filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity argue that the Kaibab National Forest's plans will sacrifice old-growth trees for commercial gain while doing little to prevent catastrophic wildfires.
Forest officials expect the project to net nearly $900,000, a rare case where a project would make money rather than tax Forest Service coffers.
The lawsuit comes a week after Gov. Janet Napolitano unveiled a set of guidelines for forest projects that was created to encourage cooperation, not litigation.
"The fact that there is an appeal just underscores the need to work together," said Lori Faeth, Napolitano's adviser for natural-resource issues.
But Sharon Galbreath, a member of the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon chapter, said efforts to reach understanding on what are old-growth trees and how they should be protected collapsed after two years of talks.
"We think they're taking the wrong-size trees," Galbreath said of the Kaibab project.
If the Forest Service wanted to prevent fires, she said, the project should target the smaller trees that clog the forest floor and create a ladder effect that allows fire to climb to the canopies of old-growth trees.
The environmental groups also argue that the plan violates various federal laws designed to protect wildlife, including habitat for the northern goshawk and the Mexican spotted owl.
"The old trees are the wildlife habitat," said Brian Segee of the Center for Biological Diversity.
The groups are asking a federal judge to stop the project, which Kaibab forest officials hope to start this summer.
Jill Leonard, district ranger for the North Kaibab Ranger District, said the Forest Service's plan was designed to help, not hurt, forest health.
"We're trying to maintain the old-growth qualities that the environmental groups allege we're trying to destroy," she said.
For example, fewer than 1 percent of the trees to be cut are in the very large category, meaning their trunks are 24 inches in diameter or bigger, she said. The majority of trees targeted for removal are small, she said.
And, Leonard said, it's important to remove some trees to give the remaining old trees room to thrive.
Leonard acknowledged that the forest project is far removed from communities, which have received increased attention nationally as wildfires have raged across the West.
The Healthy Forest Restoration Act, which made its final push through Congress last fall as wildfires licked at southern California properties, focuses on protecting the area where the forest meets homes.
The closest community to the Kaibab project is Fredonia, 48 miles away.
But Leonard said wildfire poses severe threats to isolated forests.
"We recreate there, we hike there, we take pictures there," she said.
The forest also is the gateway to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and is viewed by thousands annually, most of them from abroad.
And events such as 1996's "Bridger" fire show that old-growth trees are not always able to repel catastrophic wildfires, she said.
Galbreath contends the old trees are being sought because the Bush administration recognizes they can produce large and profitable amounts of timber.
"Saving old-growth trees should be a non-partisan issue," she said. "But logging of old-growth (trees) has been an issue with both Republican and Democratic administrations."
Dennis
Mmmm Owl meat Gooood....lol