Preserving Wisconsin’s Northwoods

Monday, June 22, 2009

ELPC Successfully Negotiates Settlement of Cayuga Logging Project
On April 23, 2009, ELPC and our clients reached an agreement with the Forest Service to settle our challenge to the Cayuga Project, located near Clam Lake, Wisconsin. The Cayuga Project has been enjoined since 2005 and was re-approved by the Forest Service earlier this year. Our settlement agreement will defer over 2,000 acres of logging—or approximately 44% of the Project area—for the next four years. These acres contain habitat for the state-endangered pine marten, among other resources, and are the key areas HEC and ELPC have been working to protect since Cayuga was first proposed in 2002.

The agreement requires the Forest Service to consult with ELPC and other stakeholders in Project Year 3, before any logging occurs in the deferred area. The parties will meet to discuss and assess new scientific information, and to determine whether and what kind of supplemental environmental impacts analysis needs to be done. This agreement commits the Forest Service to re-evaluating the Cayuga Project in three years, and it ensures that ELPC will be involved in that re-evaluation process. This exciting development suggests that the Obama Administration is starting to take a fresh look at forest management.

Administrative Proceedings – Camp Four and Grub Hoe
ELPC filed detailed legal and scientific comments in the administrative proceedings on the proposed Grub Hoe timber sale on June 15, 2009. Grub Hoe is located east of Eagle River, immediately adjacent to three other ongoing and proposed sales (Northwest Howell, Long Rail, and Fishel). ELPC recommended that the Forest Service adopt a project alternative that proposes no new road construction and reconstruction in the project area and that limits logging of old-age aspen, particularly in the corridor of the Pine River, which is a candidate for federal designation as a Wild and Scenic River.

On June 5, 2009, the Forest Service approved the Camp Four timber sale, located east of Park Falls, Wisconsin. ELPC and our clients filed detailed legal and scientific comments on the Camp Four timber sale earlier in the administrative process. ELPC hopes to persuade the Forest Service to proceed responsibly on these new sales.

New Appellate Court Lawsuits – Twentymile and Fishbone
In early 2009, a federal district court judge issued final decisions in our challenges to the Fishbone and Twentymile timber sales, both located on the Chequamegon side of the National Forest. Unfortunately, the Court’s opinions deferred to the Forest Service and found that the Forest Service had complied with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) in approving both timber sales. ELPC has appealed both decisions to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. We are currently engaged in mediated settlement talks in an effort to resolve these cases in a way that balances natural resources protection, recreation, and logging interests.

Temporary Success & Continued Litigation – McCaslin and Northwest Howell
ELPC succeeded in two related lawsuits against the McCaslin and Northwest Howell timber sales in March and August 2005, when the federal court held that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act, granted injunctions and remanded to the agency to go back and do it right. Unfortunately, the Forest Service papered over the record and issued “same old, same old” supplemental environmental impact statements on both timber sales. We are back before the federal court on those two cases, contending that the Forest Service has again failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act.

New Timber Sale – Twin Ghost
In November 2008, the Forest Service announced a new timber sale, the Twin Ghost Project, which proposes nearly 12,000 acres of logging immediately adjacent to the now-settled Cayuga Project and the proposed Twentymile Project. In February 2008 ELPC and our clients traveled to Glidden, Wisconsin, to meet with Forest Service representatives to discuss modifications that would improve wildlife habitat, protect clean water, and maintain good recreational opportunities in the project area.

Other Favorable Negotiated Settlements – Boulder and Long Rail
In March and May 2007, we negotiated favorable settlements with the Forest Service to protect key waterways, biodiversity and wildlife habitat that were prioritized by our scientists in the Long Rail and Boulder timber sales. The Forest Service agreed to: (a) not cut designated large old northern hardwood and aspen stands in areas important for threatened species protection and clean water; (b) create experimental 124-acre buffer areas to protect northern goshawk nests; and (c) discuss ways of improving the overall process of evaluating cumulative environmental impacts. ELPC is now engaged in implementing and monitoring the settlements as logging proceeds.