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September 27, 2007: Forest Service to sell public trees in the German Ridge area in defiance of judge's court order and citizens' complaintsIn June, Protect Our Woods, Heartwood, Indiana Forest Alliance and Tree of Life Alliance Audubon filed an administrative appeal of the project. The Forest Service denied the appeal in July. This is the first logging sale that the Forest Service has attempted to push through under the new Forest Plan. "We called Ken Day, the Hoosier National Forest Supervisor soon after the decision, and informed him that he had relied on requirements in regulations that three weeks prior to them signing the German Ridge decision documents had been thrown out and permanently enjoined nationwide by Federal Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton from the California Northern District Court. Mr. Day didn't know about the judge's decision when he issued the timber sale documents, but even after being told, decided to go ahead and proceed with the sale. This is in contrast to his counterpart in Kentucky on the Daniel Boone National Forest who withdrew a timber sale when they found out they were in violation of the court's order," said Heartwood's Mark Donham. According to Karyn Moskowitz, a member of Protect Our Woods, a southern Indiana based forest protection group, "This is but one of a number of large logging and burning projects in the Hoosier. Currently, there are projects being pursued by the Forest Service on the Hoosier that, if unopposed, would result in over 6,000 acres of the Hoosier getting logged and burned. This is a travesty, but just one example of how the Bush administration has turned back the clock on environmental protections." "An endangered Indiana bat was discovered on the site of the proposed logging back in the late 90s. This was enough to stop the project then. However, the Forest Service is trying to push this project again, regardless of the fact that the bats are still endangered, and no new monitoring has been done to prove that the bats are not still there," said Mark Donham. "The Forest Service budget is limited; there are a lot more urgent problems that need the resources other than cutting the public's trees down at a loss," finished POW's Karyn Moskowitz. "The Forest Service tries to pass these projects off as 'ecosystem management.' However, the public knows better. Our members and other members of the general public have spoken. We demand that Ken Day follow the wisdom of the supervisor on the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky and withdraw this and any other sales until this matter is resolved. The public may reach Ken Day at (812) 275-5987." For additional information: Karyn Moskowitz, Protect our Woods, Public Lands Policy E-mail: kmoskowitz@sbcglobal.net, Phone: (502)-475-8979 Mark Donham, Heartwood Appeals and Litigation, E-mail: markkris@earthlink.net (618) 564-3367 Protect Our Woods
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