Contacts:
, Conservation Organizer, Sierra Club, (612) 659-9124
Sean Wherley, Communications Director, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, 612-332-9630
White House rejects protections for Superior National Forest
Decision endangers wild lands, wildlife habitat in northern Minnesota
Minneapolis — The sound of chainsaws and clearcutting will invade some of Minnesota's premier forest lands under a decision announced today by the Bush administration. Rejecting a challenge by conservation groups, the US Forest Service has cleared the way for logging plans that will put popular wild forests and wildlife at risk.
The action follows a November 2004 challenge by conservation groups seeking to reform the Superior National Forest long-term management plan, which guides everything from logging to recreation. The groups say that the current management plan threatens Minnesotas remaining wild lands and animals like the Canada lynx, which need protected habitat.
"The Bush Administration is subsidizing national forest logging and gutting the rules that protect wildlife habitat. It's time to take thepoliticsand campaign contributions out of national forest decision-making," said Clyde Hanson, Chair of the Sierra Club National Forest Protection and Restoration Campaign.
The Sierra Club North Star Chapter, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness, Defenders of Wildlife and American Lands Alliance filed the 2004 appeal of the management plan. Five other parties challenged the plan for various reasons.
In Friday's action, the Bush administration dismissed all of those citizen concerns. Our appeal set out a good plan for making sure future generations will be able to enjoy wilderness, said Melissa Lindsay, executive director of Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness. The Administration's rejection of our request comes at the expense of hunting, fishing, camping, and hiking opportunities.
As the conservation groups weigh whether to sue the Forest Service to compel better management of irreplaceable national forest lands, the agency already is implementing the new plan, with proposals for several logging projects. "To respond to this setback, we're forming teams of volunteers who will explore areas where logging is proposed, and then work with the Forest Service to protect special places for future generations," said Joshua Davis, Conservation Organizer for Sierra Club.
Today's announcement comes on the heels of three setbacks for wild land protection. In April, the Forest Service announced a plan for logging or road-building in eight of Minnesota's 24 last potential wilderness areas (the Echo Trail Project). In May, the White House eliminated protection for roadless areas in all national forests, opening them to logging and mining unless a states governor makes a formal request to the Dept. of Agriculture, whose options include rejecting such requests. In June, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources released its 10-year plan for logging around the Boundary Waters, including stands in nine roadless areas.
Since the plan was issued last summer, the Forest Service and DNR have proposed 4,085 acres of logging within a quarter mile of the Boundary Waters. Effects of this logging will cross into the BWCAW, affecting wildlife and recreational users there.
For more information about the conservation groups' appeal, background on the Superior National Forest management plan, and the plan's relationship to the roadless rule, visit northstar.sierraclub.org/campaigns/forests/plan.