Forest Service Agrees to Review of Key Sierra Species

Conservation groups and the U.S. Forest Service have agreed to have an independent science panel evaluate the service’s selection of plant and animal species as indicators of the overall health of the Sierra Nevada forests. The agreement settles a legal dispute over management of the national forests in California’s greatest mountain range. The groups brought the suit to restore safeguards for a variety of Sierra Nevada wildlife, such as the Pacific fisher and northern goshawk. The lawsuit challenged the Bush administration’s 2007 decision to dramatically reduce the number of species monitored on the Sierra Nevada national forests—increasing the risk that industrial activities, such as logging, will harm sensitive wildlife and fragile habitat. “We were forced to go to court in 2008 when the Forest Service weakened wildlife protections in the Sierra by eliminating monitoring of dozens of species,” explains attorney Erin Tobin with the public interest law firm Earthjustice, which represented the environmental groups. “This settlement is a positive sign that the Forest Service is willing to listen to sound science, and we applaud the agency for that.”...more