Lawsuit Filed to Stop Logging Near Rio Grande Headwaters

Two conservation groups filed a lawsuit today challenging a logging project on national forest lands in southwestern Colorado that they claim would impact the headwaters of the Rio Grande river. Colorado Wild and WildEarth Guardians filed suit challenging the Handkerchief Mesa timber sale on the Rio Grande National Forest, represented by the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. The U.S. Forest Service proposes to manage timber and road resources in the Handkerchief Mesa Landscape, with various treatments including harvesting of 10 to 13 million board feet of timber, prescribed burning, and road management. The plaintiffs say that soils in the Handkerchief Mesa area are prone to erosion and landslide, and, as a result, area streams continue to be impacted by excess sediment from past logging and road construction. The Handkerchief Mesa timber sale threatens the soil health and hydrology of this already fragile area, they say...ENS