March 6, 2008

California Sues Feds For Jeopardizing PRISTINE ROADLESS AREAS IN LOS PADRES

Conservation Organizations Follow Suit, Seeking Better Protections for Wildlife and Habitats

Last week, the State of California took the U.S. Forest Service to court for adopting “illegal forest management plans” that permit road construction and oil drilling in pristine undeveloped areas of the Los Padres National Forest and three other national forests in southern California. The State's lawsuit alleges violations of the federal National Forest Management Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

On the heels of the State's lawsuit, a coalition of conservation organizations filed a separate lawsuit in federal court, alleging that the forest management plans threaten rare plants and animals protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Both lawsuits challenge the U.S. Forest Service's land management plans for the four southern California national forests, including the Los Padres. The Forest Service revised the plans in 2006, reducing protections for wildlife and allowing road building and development across vast areas of forest land. Both the State and the conservation organizations appealed the revised plans in 2006. The federal government denied the State's appeal and refused to even consider the conservation groups' appeal until recently ordered to do so by a federal court.

The State's Lawsuit

“The United States Forest Service adopted illegal forest management plans that threaten California’s pristine national forests with road construction and oil drilling,” California's Attorney General Edmund J. Brown said. “The Forest Service should scrap these destructive forest plans and protect California’s natural areas as required by law.”

The Forest Service's plans allow road construction on more than 500,000 acres of roadless area within the Angeles, Los Padres, Cleveland and San Bernardino National Forest. California’s lawsuit alleges that the Forest Service's plans ignore California’s moratorium on road construction in pristine areas of the national forests. 

Los Padres ForestWatch hailed the State's action. "These illegal forest management plans favor development and resource extraction at the expense of our local backcountry," said Jeff Kuyper, executive director of ForestWatch. "We applaud the state of California for taking a firm stand against this administration's assault on our public lands." ForestWatch had filed an appeal of the management plan in 2006 along with a broad coalition of conservation organizations. After the Forest Service refused to consider it, a federal judge ordered the agency to consider our appeal, and a decision from the agency is expected by May 31, 2008.

The four national forests include over 3.5 million acres of federally-managed public land, from Big Sur to the Mexican border. The forests have great geologic and topographic diversity including chaparral, oak woodlands, savannas, deserts, alpine areas, and specialized habitat niches. The forests provide habitat for 31 threatened and endangered animals and 29 plants as well as 34 animal species and 134 plants recognized as sensitive.

The Los Padres National Forest, which is one of the state’s largest national forests, also provides habitat for the endangered California condor and is the site of the principal effort to bring this species back from the brink of extinction.

Brown charged the Forest Service with illegally violating the federal National Forest Management Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires the agency to develop its forest plans in coordination with state laws and policies. California’s policy is that there should be a moratorium on any plan that could permit construction in roadless areas in national forests.

The attorney general is representing the People of California, the California Resources Agency and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to challenge the forest plans.

The Conservation Coalition Lawsuit

Yesterday, five conservation organizations filed a lawsuit alleging that the federal government had failed to protect dozens of rare plants and animals on the Los Padres and three other national forests in southern California - the Angeles, Cleveland, and San Bernardino forests.

According to the lawsuit, the forest management plans prepared by the U.S. Forest Service in 2005 and related documents known as “biological opinions” do little to safeguard federally protected species and critical habitat from many harmful development activities, including road construction, off-road vehicle abuse, oil drilling, logging, and commercial livestock grazing. The groups’ lawsuit follows a related lawsuit filed last week by the State of California over planned development of wild roadless areas under the forest plans.

The coalition filing this lawsuit includes the Center for Biological Diversity, Los Padres ForestWatch, Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, and California Native Plant Society.

What's Next

The federal government will issue a decision on our appeal of the Forest Plan in May 2008. The lawsuits will proceed later this year. Meanwhile, the Forest Service continues to rely on these illegal forest management plans, to the detriment of our region's wildlife and wild places. Our hope is that these lawsuits will bring about a new conservation ethic for our national forests. In the meantime, ForestWatch will be tracking development proposals across the Los Padres to ensure that its wildlife and landscapes are not threatened.

The four southern California National Forests are ecological jewels in need of new and creative conservation attention. Encompassing over 3.5 million acres of coast, foothill, mountain, and high desert terrain, the forests shelter a remarkable total of 3,000 plant and animal species – many of which occur nowhere else on Earth – from urban development. From the iconic California condor and steelhead trout to the diminutive Quino checkerspot butterfly and San Diego thornmint, the forests provide a home for at least 480 at risk species. They provide an unprecedented opportunity to preserve a natural remnant of our region for its own sake and for the benefit of millions of nearby California residents, communities, and visitors.