The coalition of Community groups has taken legal action against the Forest Service’s plans to implement the large-scale logging project in the Plumas National Forest because of it’s lack of conducting an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The project, valued at $650 million, aims to log over 200,000 acres of forest, including mature and old-growth forest. Critics argue that the project, purportedly aimed at community protection, ignores scientific evidence suggesting that logging can exacerbate wildfire risks and harm forest ecosystems.
Forest officials say the Forest Service’s Community Protection—Central and West Slope Project, announced last year, is a response to recent wildfires. In September of last year, the forest was able to obtain emergency authority to phase Environmental assessments and proceed with the project.
The coalition of community groups asserts that the Forest Service’s decision to prioritize logging over other wildfire mitigation strategies, such as prescribed burns and home hardening measures, is misguided and potentially harmful to both the environment and rural communities. They cite examples of recent wildfires in the Sierra Nevada region, including the Camp fire, which devastated numerous towns, as evidence of the risks associated with the Forest Service’s approach.
According to John Preschutti of the Plumas Forest Project, involved in the lawsuit and who also lost his family home in the Camp fire, the Forest Service has disregarded evidence suggesting that prescribed burns and home hardening measures are more effective and cost-efficient in protecting communities from wildfires.
Josh Hart of Feather River Action emphasizes the need for a new approach to wildfire management that prioritizes community protection, forest conservation, and climate resilience. Dr. Chad Hanson of the John Muir Project echoes these sentiments, criticizing the Forest Service’s decision to pursue logging despite its known risks.
The community groups are calling for an immediate halt to the logging project and urging the Forest Service to reconsider its approach to wildfire management to safeguard both communities and forest ecosystems.
