Superior National Forest Plan

By law the General Management Plan for the Superior National Forest must be revised at least every 15 years. The most recent 2004 revision was initiated by the Forest Service in 1997. In conjunction with the revision, in 2003 the Forest Service began preparing a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). A broad coalition of environmental groups, including Friends, commented on the failures in the EIS to protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and its surrounding ecosystem.

Notwithstanding our objections, the Forest Service approved the Forest Plan in July 2004. In November 2005, a group of plaintiffs, including Friends, filed an Administrative Appeal of the Forest Service’s approval of the Plan. In August 2005, our appeal was rejected. On August 15th, 2006, a coalition of plaintiffs, including Friends, filed a lawsuit requiring the Forest Service to improve the Plan.

The Forest Plan is plagued by two fatal flaws that can be neither justified nor ignored. First, the Forest Service did not analyze how the Forest Plan or any of the proposed alternatives are expected to affect the Boundary Waters. Some of the potential impacts – none of which were considered – include habitat degradation due to edge effects, noise pollution, impairment of water quality due to sedimentation, air pollution from timber harvesting machinery, and increased illegal access to the Boundary Waters by off-road vehicles. This failure is especially troubling given that the Forest Plan creates a management zone immediately adjacent to and completely surrounding the Boundary Waters that permits intensive timber harvesting with little or no restriction.

The second fatal flaw is the Forest Service’s use of seriously inaccurate data regarding the location and number of roads and trails within the Superior National Forest. By relying on inaccurate roads and trails data, the Forest Service undermines the scientific integrity of its analysis of a wide range of issues, from wildlife to recreation.

A hearing on the merits of this lawsuit will occur on June 5th, 2008 at the federal courthouse in St. Paul, Minnesota.