Posted on 11/14/2005 6:27:45 PM PST by ncountylee
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - A federal judge temporarily barred a logging project on Monday that would have included a small section of California's Giant Sequoia National Monument.
The plan in question would thin trees across 1,322 acres (535 hectares), of which under a quarter are within the Giant Sequoia National Monument, in an effort to protect a small local community against forest fires, said Matt Mathes, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service in California.
The Monument spans 328,000 acres (132,700 hectares) that are home to two-thirds of all sequoia trees in the world.
Several environmental groups sued to block the project, known as the "Ice Timber Sale", one of 11 grandfathered into a Clinton administration proclamation banning logging there starting in 2000.
In his Monday decision, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer granted the request for an injunction, saying the project's potential effect on wildlife had not been properly considered.
"The court finds that the Forest Service has failed to show the adequate degree of care in considering this information and evaluating its impact," he wrote.
(Excerpt) Read more at alertnet.org ...
Lots of judge blocked articles these days.
Well, I guess when those peoples and more houses burn; that's alright. Don't these people understand anything. You have to thin out the forest to keep it healthy. Sooner or later you may have deseased trees and than what are you going to do?
1300 acres is NOT that big of a spot!!
Around here, that would be a 'small farm'
I side with the Environmentalist on this one folks sorry.
1,322 out of 328,000 = 0.40%
I wish the damn enviros would take a flying leap.
PS - What is this hectares crap? We live in Murica, not Rome.
Why would you do that? Thinning out a forest makes it FAR healthier!!!!
You like forest fires, or you like to see people die? Either way that's just sick.
when sequoia burns to the ground the envirowackos can just say oh well, it was natural.
"The court finds that the Forest Service has failed to show the adequate degree of care in considering this information and evaluating its impact," he wrote.
The statute gives the Executive Branch the power to make that decision, not some wacko liberal nutcase judge who thinks he's God.
Same play, same actors, new stage...
Then you have to let fire play its natural role, either as wildland or prescribed fire. Most of the ecosystems in CA are fire adapted. If you look at old pictures of the Sierras, for example, most forest stands are open and parklike. Long term fire suppression has led to much heavier fuel buildup over the last 100-150 years.
Fire is a lot harder tool to control then logging, particularly if you have heavy fuel buildup as noted above (ref wildland firefighter husband). And when you are dealing with fire near communities and homes, there are air quality laws that need to be met. If people want to shut the fire down because of a smoke complaint, then they can do so by complaining to the Air Quality Control District, and there goes all the time and money you spent planning the burn, getting the equipment and people, and doing public outreach. The cost is not insignificant.
There are also safety concerns. Fire is a wonderful land management tool, but it has a large element of uncertainty and risk involved. That's why it's a tool best used away from areas with heavy human population.
If you let the fuel buildup continue, you are in essence continuing an "unnatural" condition (different tree species, changing nutrient cycling, wildlife species habitat etc), and when the fire comes, as it will, it will be larger, harder to contain, be more damaging to soil, watersheds etc (CA fire history had lots of low intensity fires, which are good for forests) and more expensive to control.
We've got a lot of catching up to do.
"I side with the Environmentalist on this one folks sorry."
btt...
I've been there. General Sherman and General Grant trees...
Just the awesome beauty of the park is beyond my words.
It's an enormous mess made worse by carbon dioxide enrichment and weeds. I've been working at it for fifteen years on my place and I'm in much better shape, but still not totally ready.
Judge Breyer ,, Clinton apppointee 1997
I take it you'd like to see a forest thousands of years old burned to a crisp because of decades of human intervention in a nearly annual fire regimen.
Not me. Log it and get that white fir out of there first. I suggest you read the links at the post above. If you want references, I've got them.
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