Lawsuit Challenges Federal Logging Program on Economic Grounds
12/17/98
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Title: Lawsuit Challenges Federal Logging Program on Economic Grounds
Source: Fenton Communication, Carole Florman or
Charles Longer, 202/822-5200
Status: Contact source for reprint permissions
Date: 12/17/98
FIRST OF ITS KIND LAWSUIT CHALLENGES MONEY-LOSING FEDERAL LOGGING PROGRAM
ON ECONOMIC GROUNDS
Checkmate for Program that Costs Taxpayers and Communities Nearly $1
billion per year
WASHINGTON (December 17) -- A logger, the president of a paper company, a
resort owner, and 11 other individuals and organizations today filed suit
against the U.S. Forest Service, claiming the agency's logging program has
hurt them economically in violation of federal law.
Filed in Federal District Court in Burlington, VT, the lawsuit could
result in the suspension of logging in all National Forests until the
Forest Service can prove that the benefits of the logging program outweigh
the costs.
"Numerous laws and regulations say that the logging program must make
economic sense. We intend to compel the Forest Service to follow the law
and determine the net economic and social benefits of standing timber
versus logged-over forests," said Brian Dunkiel, a Vermont-based attorney
representing the plaintiffs
The U.S. Forest Service is responsible for over 190 million acres of
publicly owned forests nationwide. By law the Forest Service must manage
these lands in the way which provides for the greatest social and economic
well-being of individuals and the nation as a whole.
"The Forest Service logging program hurts my business because our paper
products come from recycled paper, not trees cut with the help of taxpayer
subsidies," said Jeffery Hollander, President of Seventh Generation Paper
Company based in Burlington, Vermont. "The Forest Service's failure to
comply with the law means our employees, investors and the communities we
support are placed at a disadvantage."
"Logging National Forests causes more economic and social harm than good,"
said John Talberth, executive director of Santa Fe, NM based Forest
Guardians, initiators of the litigation. "The evidence we gathered from
economists, scientists, business leaders and outdoor groups, is
irrefutable."
The suit also demands that the Forest Service fulfill its legal obligation
to assess and document the social and economic impacts of the logging
program. Significant economic impacts are routinely overlooked even
though the Forest Service has the expertise and methods to account for
them.
The Forest Service must annually prove to congress that its management of
the forests provides maximum social and economic benefits for the least
cost. But its annual budget request to congress has never included an
analysis of the costs and benefits of the logging program.
"An accurate accounting will show that National Forests are far more
valuable to society as standing forests," said Brent Blackwelder,
president of Friends of the Earth and a plaintiff in the lawsuit, "because
the program loses up to a billion dollars a year in direct costs - and
many more dollars in indirect costs - to taxpayers and clearly damages
local economies."
Participants in the lawsuit include:
A small woodlot owner from Oregon placed at an economic disadvantage by
corporations which receive public subsidies to clear-cut federally owned
forests.
The former Mayor of Oakridge, Oregon whose town's clean, pure water
supply was destroyed by sedimentation caused by logging. That damage
forced the town to spend millions of dollars to drill wells.
The owner of a medicinal herb company in Indiana whose source of income
depends on healthy, standing forests.
An avid hunter from Arizona who loses opportunities to hunt when forests
are logged. In turn, local businesses such as guides, outfitters,
equipment suppliers and lodge owners lose income from visiting hunters.
A birding guide from Minnesota whose loss of business opportunities has
not been accounted for in logging plans for a forest she regularly uses.
A resort owner from Oregon impacted when forests around his business are
logged, thus destroying the scenery and recreational opportunities which
attract customers. Logging trucks driving by his business also disturb
customers.
A mushroom harvester and restaurant owner from Montana who lost crops
when forests near him were logged.
A former Forest Service timber sale planner and a fisheries biologist
Environmental and outdoor groups including Friends of the Earth and the
Federation of Western Outdoors Clubs; leading scientists and natural
resource economists including Ed Whitelaw, Randall O'Toole, Tom Powers and
Robert Costanza who document how the logging program negatively impacts
the economy of communities and the nation as a whole.
Among the many laws and policies specifically mandating that the
management of National Forests maximize economic and social benefits to
the public, the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act
which states that "It is the policy of the United States (that) forests
and rangeland, in all ownerships, should be managed to maximize their net
social and economic contribution to the Nation's well being, in an
environmentally sound manner."
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Forest Guardians: John Talberth, Executive Director - 505/986-1163
Steve Sugarman, co-lead attorney - 505/983-1700
Friends of the Earth: Brian Dunkiel, co-lead attorney - 802-862-1706
Brent Blackwelder, President - 202/783 7400
Seventh Generation Paper Company: Jeffery Hollander, CEO - 802/658-3773
Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs: Brock Evans, President - 202/682-1331
Eco Northwest: Ed Whitelaw, Economist - 541/687-0051
For additional information including state specific contacts, please call:
Charles Longer, Fenton Communications 202/822-5200