Nice to see the good species win one! > this went out yesterday and there in an AP story running nationwide that > uses Roxanne's first quote. congrats to legal team and our folks in AZ! > > For Immediate Release: February 14, 2006 > > Contacts: Roxane George, Sierra Club (928) 774-6514 > Todd Schulke, Center for Biological Diversity (505) > 574-5962 > Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter (602) > 253-8633 > > > Bush Administration Forced to Abandon Plans to Log Near Grand Canyon > > Conservationists call on Administration to protect communities at risk > from > wildfires instead of logging old growth forests > > (Phoenix) Today, the Forest Service announced withdrawal of a > controversial > old growth timber sale in the Grand Canyon Game Preserve, just three miles > from the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. The Sierra Club and the > Center for Biological Diversity had challenged the East Rim timber sale, a > 17,216-acre project, in remote areas of the Kaibab National Forest. > > "The decision to abandon this controversial timber sale is a wake-up call > that the Forest Service must fund projects that actually protect > communities from wildfire, instead of logging in remote areas," said > Roxanne George with the Sierra Club. "We advocate legitimate fuels > reduction like thinning small trees near communities at risk from > wildfires, but the East Rim Timber Sale targeted old growth trees near the > rim of the Grand Canyon." > > Under the guise of increasing forest health and decreasing fire risk, the > Forest Service proposal would have permitted the logging of at least 8 > million board feet of timber (enough to fill 1,800 logging trucks) 48 > miles > from the nearest community, including tens of thousands of large, > fire-resistant trees. The plan included extensive logging within popular > camping and recreation sites overlooking Grand Canyon National Park, as > well as areas directly adjacent to the Saddle Mountain Wilderness Area. > Conservationists called this a tragic waste of resources, since at the > same > time that the East Rim timber sale was being planned, populated > communities > like Mt. Lemmon near Tucson had to forgo desperately needed fuels > reduction > projects due to lack of funding. > > "We are pleased that the Forest Service has withdrawn the East Rim Timber > Sale, and we strongly encourage the Forest Service to consider a future > project that truly protects old growth, wildlife, and our national > heritage," said Todd Schulke with the Center for Biological Diversity. > ?This logging proposal would have harmed rare wildlife and logged within > designated old growth forests as well as the Grand Canyon Game Preserve, a > protected area set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 for the > benefit of wildlife." > > The North Rim, particularly the Kaibab Plateau area where the sale is > located, has always been a paradise for a wide variety of wildlife. > President and sportsman Theodore Roosevelt was so impressed by the area > that in 1906 he designated it the Grand Canyon Game Preserve, and demanded > that it be "set apart forever for the use and benefit of our people as a > whole and not sacrificed to the shortsighted greed of a few." The East > Rim > timber sale was located entirely within the boundaries of the Preserve. > > The groups' challenge contended that the Forest Service violated the law > in > planning the East Rim Sale by failing to protect habitat for several > species of wildlife listed under the Endangered Species Act, including the > Mexican spotted owl, as well as sensitive species like the northern > goshawk. The densest breeding population of northern goshawks in North > America exists on the Kaibab Plateau. The Plateau has also been > designated > a National Natural Landmark for the protection of the Kaibab squirrel, a > unique species found nowhere else on earth which has been compared to > Darwin?s finches on the Galapagos islands as a classic example of > evolution > through geographic isolation. > > To date, 95 percent of the old growth in the Southwest has been logged. > Approximately 90 percent of the remaining trees in the Southwest?s forests > are 12 inches in diameter and smaller. The old growth left on the Kaibab > National Forest is especially important because it represents the best > opportunity to restore old growth on a landscape scale. While the forest > plan calls for managing 20 percent of the Kaibab National Forest to > maintain an old growth condition, this small number does not represent > what > existed historically and is not sufficient to restore the ecosystem. > > ### > > The Center for Biological Diversity is an environmental organization based > in Tucson, Arizona dedicated to the preservation, protection and > restoration of biodiversity, native species, ecosystems and public lands. > > The Sierra Club is the nation?s oldest and largest grassroots conservation > organization with nearly 13,000 members in Arizona. > > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship > e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's > latest news and activities. 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