Court halts national forest logging

BOISE – A U.S. Forest Service plan to selectively log thousands of acres in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests has been blocked by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Forest Service hoped to log nearly 4,000 acres in the Bonners Ferry region to bring the dense, Douglas fir-packed forest closer to the historical composition of open ponderosa pine and Douglas fir stands and to reduce the risk of insect infestation and fires. The project was divided into three sections, two of which have been sold to logging companies. The third sale has been postponed during the court case.

Officials in Bonners Ferry, Moyie Springs and Boundary County, meanwhile, said that canceling the project would have serious economic consequences for the region. Everhart Logging and Regehr Logging – the companies that purchased the timber sales – would have to lay off some or all of their workers if the logging project was stopped, company attorneys warned.

But in the ruling handed down Monday, the appeals court panel sided with the environmental groups The Lands Council and the Wild West Institute. The environmental groups said the Forest Service’s logging plan went beyond what was needed to restore the historic composition of the forest, and claimed that the logging could deeply harm the region’s ecosystem.

“While balancing environmental harms and economic harms is not easy, it is not unprecedented,” Judge Warren J. Ferguson wrote for the three-judge panel. “We have held time and again that the public interest in preserving nature and avoiding irreparable environmental injury outweighs economic concerns.”

Mike Peterson, executive director of The Lands Council, said he was pleased by the ruling and hoped that environmental groups and the Forest Service can work toward a compromise. The environmental groups had agreed with the Forest Service that at least part of the logging plan was appropriate, he said.

“Hopefully it will lead us in a discussion in how they can design projects that will not only not harm wildlife but will get timber to the mill,” Peterson said. “I think there’s some common ground. A big issue for us is how do you log so you don’t damage things.”

Gail West, spokeswoman with the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, said officials were still looking over the ruling.

“We will be reviewing the court’s ruling to determine next steps,” West said. “Of course we will comply with the court’s ruling. We continue to believe that the Mission Brush is a good project.”