And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1998 13:54:36 -0700 >To: "Wild Rockies Alerts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: Wild Rockies InfoNet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Judge Halts Middle Soup Timber Sale >Sender: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE >12/24/98 > >CONTACT: >Arlene Montgomery >Friends of the Wild Swan >406-886-2011 >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >JUDGE HALTS MIDDLE SOUP TIMBER SALE > > A Montana District Court Judge has given the forest an early >Christmas present by calling a halt to the logging of the Middle Soup >Timber Sale on the Swan River State Forest. Judge Thomas Honzel ordered >the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) to >complete a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the >economics of this timber sale and complete an adequate cumulative effects >analysis on the impacts that previous logging has had on old-growth forest >habitat and the sensitive wildlife which depend upon it. Friends of the >Wild Swan, a Swan Valley conservation organization, brought the lawsuit >against the DNRC. > > The court upheld Friends of the Wild Swan's claim and found that >the final EIS did not fully analyze the cumulative impacts of all of the >past and proposed logging in the area. "DNRC's EIS ignored the fact that >substantial logging has occurred in this forest. This has severely >degraded the habitat for many sensitive wildlife species," said Arlene >Montgomery, spokesperson for Friends of the Wild Swan. > > In a confusing turn of events the state disclosed earlier this year >that it had mismarked the trees to be cut in the sale. The volume of >timber to be logged as well as the price which Plum Creek Timber Company >would pay for it were reduced. However, the state's analysis failed to >disclose that this timber sale would now lose money, rather than generate >revenue for the school trust. The state rejected two other alternatives in >its Environmental Impact Statement because they would not make any money >for the school trust. "The DNRC appears to be handing out valuable public >assets to timber companies that rightfully belong to the school children of >Montana," Friends of the Wild Swan's Montgomery stated. > > While this timber sale was under court review, DNRC granted Plum >Creek Timber Company a waiver and allowed them to begin logging the >project. The court's decision enjoins all logging of the Middle Soup >Timber Sale until the state complies with the court's order. "We are >pleased that the court will not allow this timber sale to go forward at >this time. Old-growth forests take at least 200 years to grow. To allow >logging without fully analyzing the consequences destroys Montana's rich >wildlife heritage and forecloses options for future generations. " >Montgomery said. > > This is the second time that the Middle Soup Timber Sale has been >stopped by the courts. In 1994 a District Court Judge also found the DNRC >to be in violation of the law in their first version of this timber sale. > >Arlene Montgomery >Friends of the Wild Swan >P.O. BOX 5103, SWAN LAKE, MT 59911 >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >************************************************************************ >List-Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >News Submissions or Problems: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >This list is a public service provided by WIN: http://www.wildrockies.org > <<<<=-=-=FREE LEONARD PELTIER=-=-=>>>> If you think you are too small to make a difference; try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.... African Proverb <<<<=-=http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ =-=>>>> IF it says: "PASS THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW...." Please Check it before you send it at: http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blhoax.htm
