Previous Case Activity
Old growth spared from logging in NC’s Nantahala National Forest
added 12.16.11
Following an appeal by SELC, the Forest Service has agreed to dramatically scale back its Haystack Project, a plan to log part of the Nantahala National Forest in Macon County, North Carolina. Our primary concerns included the logging of rare and valuable old growth forest and new road construction on steep, unstable terrain. Under the agreement, old growth will be spared from logging and the Forest Service has eliminated plans for most new road construction, which will reduce the project’s long-term footprint in the forest.
Learn moreSELC opposes timber sale near Roan Mountain State Park
added 6.23.11
SELC is working with groups such as Cherokee Forest Voices and the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition to protect irreplaceable forest ecosystems threatened by the Clarke Mountain project, a proposal to log 230 acres and construct more than a mile of temporary roads in the Cherokee National Forest not far from Roan Mountain State Park. We are insisting that the Forest Service safeguard verified stands of old-growth forest in the logging sites, which contain trees ranging from 130 to more than 230 years old, according to on-the-ground surveys by Wildlaw. We are also voicing opposition to logging proposed on steep, erosion-prone slopes.SELC reaches key agreement with USFS on Tennessee timber sale
added 12.29.10
SELC, representing three conservation partners in Tennessee, reached an agreement with the Cherokee National Forest that spares vital wildlife habitat and protects water quality.
Earlier in 2010, on behalf of Cherokee Forest Vocies, Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition and Wild South, SELC had challenged the Forest Service's plan to log 355 acres in the watershed of Big Creek, a tributary of the French Broad River. Most of the project area was on slopes of 35% or greater, classified by the Natural Resources Conservation Service as having "severe" risk of erosion.
Under the agreement, the Forest Service will not log about 122 acres in the Laurel Mountain area, a rugged backcountry that forms part of a vital pathway for black bear and other wildlife in the mountains of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. Such habitat corridors will become even more important in the future as wildlife respond to the effects of climate change, which was a primary concern for SELC and our partner groups.
See our press release for more information.
Read theformal agreement (pdf)
SELC Keeps Threat to North Carolina Forest at Bay
added 11.11.09
SELC and its partners have successfully challenged the Thunderstruck timber sale, a U.S. Forest Service plan to cut 330 acres of mature hardwoods in North Carolina’s Tusquitee Mountains about halfway between Chattanooga and Asheville. The proposed logging sites, part of the Nantahala National Forest, include stands of cove forest more than 100 years old.
In response to our appeal, the agency agreed with our argument that it failed to give full consideration to the environmental impacts and long-term costs of the four miles of new and restored roads needed for the project. Among other points, we emphasized that the roads would send polluted runoff into mountain streams, fragment wildlife habitat, and disrupt forest ecosystems.
SELC Staves Off Attempt to Fast-Track Logging and Burning Project
added 10.19.09
In Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest, SELC and Georgia ForestWatch have successfully challenged an attempt by the U.S. Forest Service to fast-track a controversial logging and burning project in the Chattooga River watershed.
After agreeing last summer not to characterize a logging and burning project on Brawley Mountain as “restoration” (which would have set a dangerous precedent), the Forest Service turned around and proposed a similar “restoration” project that would entail intensive cutting on 500 acres and burning on 1,000 acres in the Watergauge Road area. The agency also attempted to avoid an environmental assessment of the project, which is required by law.
In September, SELC filed an administrative appeal of the project on behalf of Georgia ForestWatch. In response, the Forest Service agreed earlier this month to go back and conduct the required environmental review—a process we and our partners will take part in to protect wildlife, rivers and streams, and other resources.
Photo: ©Beth Young