Idaho conservation group sues Forest Service, says logging, burning could harm bull trout
An Idaho environmental group has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service, claiming the federal agency’s plans in a Boise National Forest logging project could potentially damage habitat and wildlife, including a threatened fish species.
The Idaho Conservation League filed suit on Monday over the Sage Hen restoration project, which was proposed in 2020 and approved in April. The group argues that the Forest Service excluded the public from offering feedback on project specifics and rushed past an in-depth environmental impact study, opting instead for a less-rigorous environmental assessment. ICL called that “a highly unusual move for such a large and transformative project.”
The Sage Hen project includes prescribed burning, commercial logging and road-building, all part of an effort to restore forestland damaged by tussock moths, mistletoe and other invasive pests and weeds. The project covers 68,000 acres surrounding Sage Hen Reservoir, northwest of Smiths Ferry.
When the project began, the Forest Service said logging and burning treatments would be “conditions-based,” meaning the agency would determine the location and extent of those operations when the project was underway. The Forest Service set maximum acreages for each treatment, but the Idaho Conservation League said that gives the agency “a blank check” to fill in without public input or environmental assessments.
“As a result, important details of the project are largely unknown, and the true extent of its adverse environmental impacts are highly uncertain,” ICL wrote in its lawsuit.
The environmental group said it has concerns that logging, burning and road-building may disturb wildlife and native plants, as well as bull trout. ICL argues that the population of bull trout in the Squaw Creek area is isolated and may be decreasing, putting the fish — which are protected as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act — at risk if the project disturbs their watershed.
The Idaho Conservation League has asked the U.S. District Court of Idaho to void the approval of the Sage Hen restoration project and order the Forest Service to complete an environmental impact study to determine the effects of its proposed treatments.
It’s not the first time environmental groups have pushed back against the project. The Idaho Conservation League and the Boise Forest Coalition, of which ICL is a member, filed objections to the project in December 2020, claiming the project didn’t disclose necessary details and was not based on an environmental impact study. Wildlands Defense, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Yellowstone to Uintas Connection and Native Ecosystems Council filed a lawsuit last month to stop the project, citing concerns similar to the Idaho Conservation League’s.
Randy Fox, West Central Idaho conservation associate for ICL, said in the group’s news release that the Conservation League is not opposed to the project. The group has collaborated with the Forest Service to help develop the project but wants to see more diligence to ensure watersheds and wildlife aren’t harmed by the forest restoration.
“Make no mistake, the Idaho Conservation League wants the Forest Service to succeed,” Fox said. “We have invested years in this project. But we need to correct the course.”
The American Forest Resource Council, a Portland, Oregon-based trade association that represents timber purchasers, reached out to the Idaho Statesman in support of the Sage Hen project. A spokesman for the council, which was also involved in developing the project, said the Forest Service heeded public comments and pared down road construction plans and nearly 2,000 acres of proposed timber harvest.
“At a time when our public land managers are calling for landscape scale treatments to improve the health of our national forests, the Sage Hen project is an example of the work that needs to be done to keep our public lands healthy and accessible for the public,” the association said in a statement.
Forest Service officials declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 2:48 PM.
