Federal judge won’t stop Stanislaus forest logging project

A U.S. judge declined to temporarily halt a logging project in the Stanislaus Forest in the aftermath of the Rim Fire.

Last month, conservation groups which included Earth Island Institute, Greenpeace Inc., Sequoia ForestKeeper and climate scientist James Hansen filed a lawsuit claiming recovery and reforestation efforts utilized outdated environmental impact statements, which violated the National Environmental Policy Act.

A supplemental statement was needed as new information came to light that changed circumstances in the restoration efforts, plaintiffs argued. Earth Island Institute et al v. Nash et al., 3:19-CV-05792 (N.D. Cal., filed Sept. 16, 2019)

The state Department of Housing and Community Development, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are named as defendants.

In his ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard G. Seeborg said a supplemental statement isn't required every time new information comes to light after an environmental statement is finalized, and doing so would unfairly hamper agency action and violate the rule of reason, which governs an agency's duty to supplement under NEPA.

"To require otherwise would render agency decision-making intractable, always awaiting updated information," the judge wrote.

The lawsuit also accused defendants of violating the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 when they approved the use of a federal grant to fund parts of the project.

Seeborg said the law allows grant money to be used for expenses related to disaster relief, long-term recovery restoration of infrastructure and it's unlikely plaintiffs could properly prove that the act of utilizing the money to fund the project was arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion.

Furthermore, defendants already anticipated some level of natural regeneration along with the presence of wildlife in the proposed project areas, along with considerations of greenhouse gas emissions, despite plaintiffs' claims, Seeborg wrote.

Wyn Hornbuckle, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice, declined to comment.

Chad Hanson, fire ecologist with the John Muir Project of the Earth Island Institute, expressed his disappointment with Seeborg's ruling.

"Since the fire burned, the forest has recovered naturally and it is full of new young trees and home to goshawk, owl and a diversity of wildlife," he said in a statement. "Using disaster relief funds to log, pile and burn in this sensitive area is causing irreparable harm to the Stanislaus National Forest, contributing to climate change and is a waste of precious money that is intended to rebuild communities."