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Lowbagger checked in on
the Federal Court system last Wednesday, after being ambushed by
National
Forest Protection Association Lowbagger Jake Kreilick at World
Headquarters. Lawyer
Tom Woodbury was down there arguing to Judge Donald Molloy that a
timber sale
on the “Not only doesn’t this sale fit the criteria of a categorical exclusion,” Woodbury argued to Molloy, “but the categorical exclusion rule is arbitrary and capricious, and not supported under NEPA.” Woodbury asserted that the categorical exclusion rule was intended for mowing lawns, clearing road hazards, and thinning campgrounds. But somehow the rule has been perverted into a tool to extract timber and build roads on national forest lands without including the public in the discussion. In this case, a categorical exclusion would allow the Forest Service to chop up to 250 acres of “dead or dying trees” without following the environmental laws that govern land stewardship. Laws like the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), that provided checks. Under a categorical exclusion there is no option to appeal a timber sale. Other categorical exclusions, like burned areas, allow for timber sales up to 1,000 acres without an appeals process. The Forest Service says that public comment is heard during scoping sessions. And they also say that even though they are exempt from conducting a full-blown Environmental Impact Statement, they still do a pretty good job of reviewing of potential impacts. This begs the question, if they do their job to the letter of the law, then how do they wind up losing in court so often? It really is unfortunate that a bunch of college-educated, well-paid government scientists and other assorted professionals have to be put in check by private citizens on a continual basis. The make-up of the courtroom reflected such assertions when Jake and I walked in at the last minute on Wednesday. At the defendant’s table sat the Forest Service. Two Freddy-green suits and two navy blue suits. Behind them were 30-some Forest Service employees, probably on the clock. You would think a team like this could pull the wool over the eyes of a couple treehuggers. But, no, at the plaintiff’s sat The Ecology Center’s Jeff Juel in a tweedish jacket and Woodbury, dressed in a classy forest green suit. While the enviro legal team was half the size of the government’s, the crowd behind the enviros was one-sixteenth of the size. Behind Juel and Woodbury’s table sat two treehuggers and a Lowbagger reporter. It would have been easy to feel sorry for the treehuggers if their lawyer hadn’t been brilliant and their case was merely an obstructionist tactic. But, as was, Woodbury delivered a compelling argument that made sense to this reporter, and followed the spirit of the seventies “Sunshine” laws. You know NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act. Meanwhile, the young Forest Service lawyer stumbled in circles around questions from Molloy, often straying off topic in more of a filibuster approach to argument. Molloy stated “that if there’s a categorical exclusion, it doesn’t seem like there’s an opportunity (to talk about discrepancies, and get them resolved),” before recessing to make a decision. The Forest Service lawyer did his best to sweeten the pot for environmentalists during arguments by stating that the roads in that area badly needed repair, and the only way to get money to repair those roads was by going in with a logging operation. Nice try guys. We’re tired of seeing the Forest Service refuse to live up to its obligation of restoring sections of land that they’ve already disturbed. Especially, as they propose to continue their so called management of the forest without public scrutiny. Email editor Josh Mahan at editor@lowbagger.org. |
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