Calif. logging project harming sacred areas, old-growth trees, lawsuit says

Tribal and environmental groups have sued the Forest Service on charges the agency illegally allowed logging with heavy equipment in portions of California's Six Rivers National Forest considered sacred to American Indians and removed too many large-diameter hardwood trees.

The lawsuit -- filed in federal district court in San Francisco, Calif., by the Karuk Tribe, Environmental Protection Information Center, Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center and the Klamath Forest Alliance -- charges the Forest Service with violating the National Historic Preservation Act, National Environmental Policy Act and other federal laws last year when logging began under the service's Orleans Community Fuels Reduction Plan.

The groups contend that the service implemented a forest thinning plan inconsistent with the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project, which seeks to thin roughly 2,600 acres in the nearly 1 million-acre forest spanning from the California-Oregon border to Mendocino County. Forest Supervisor Tyrone Kelley issued a record of decision on the project in August 2008.

But a year later, when work began, environmentalists say the Forest Service violated its pledges to thin the area in an ecologically friendly way. "During the implementation, things just went awry," said Kimberly Baker, forest and wildlife advocate for the Klamath Forest Alliance and EPIC.

A major thrust of the complaint deals the use of heavy logging equipment in areas deemed sacred by the Karuk Tribe, as well as the Forest Service's alleged divergence from measures designed to "protect, promote, enhance and restore" stands of ecologically sensitive hardwoods. Additionally, critics say the service failed to protect large-diameter trees or keep its commitment for multi-party monitoring of the fuels reduction work.

The Orleans Community Fuels Reduction Plan was developed after three years of meetings in which the Forest Service sought input from local landowners, environmental groups, tribal members and others. According to the final EIS for the project, its purpose is to "manage forest stands to reduce fuels accumulations and improve forest health around the community of Orleans, while enhancing cultural values associated with the Panamnik World Ceremonial District."

But plaintiffs contend the work on the ground was inconsistent with these stated goals. Environmental groups, in particular, are concerned about the ecological impacts of removing too many large-diameter hardwood trees from the area, which they say could make the forest more susceptible to catastrophic wildfire, reduce tree diversity and degrade habitat for northern spotted owls, fishers, bald eagles and other wildlife.

"They chose to put the corridors where the biggest trees were, so they were logging a lot of big, fire-resistant, old-growth trees," Baker said.

Because of this, she said loggers actually exceeded their estimated timber volume in one forest unit by 25 percent.

Ceremonial sites

Additionally, the groups say logging activities have destroyed cultural sites that are still used by the Karuk Tribe during "world renewal" ceremonies.

Tribe spokesman Craig Tucker said the ceremonial district where the logging occurred includes an ancient dance ground still used by the tribe, a sweat lodge and a series of ancient trails used by the tribe's medicine man during tribal ceremonies. Tucker said the Forest Service had agreed to keep heavy equipment away from the trails and not to log large trees along the trail.

"None of these details were given to the local logging company," Tucker said. "They literally decked logs on top of the medicine man's trail. The Forest Service basically took a plan that was three years in the making and threw it out the window."

The Karuk are often described as a "world renewal" people and their annual ceremony in the forest -- called "pikyawich," a Karuk word meaning "to fix it" -- is aimed at keeping the world in balance, Tucker said. At 3,500 members, the Karuk are the second-largest tribe in California.

Aside from the spiritual and cultural values of the area, Tucker said the tribe had a keen interest in the project because Native Americans have historically relied on the forest for subsistence fishing and acorn gathering. Tribal members had hoped the fuels reduction project would increase tree diversity in the forest, which today is heavily dominated by Douglas firs, by restoring acorn-bearing oak trees and other hardwoods, he said.

"When the proposal came about, the tribe was supportive of the fuels reduction project and taking advantage of the opportunity to reduce the risk of fire and improve the forest, but we did not want that to be at the expense of our trails, related artifacts and cultural sites," he said.

Calls to officials at the Six Rivers National Forest were not returned by press time.

The areas being debated represent 914 acres slated for mechanical harvesting. The Forest Service awarded the timber contract to Eureka, Calif.-based Timber Products for nearly $1 million.

But when work began on the project last November, outraged tribal members and local residents blockaded logging roads that access the units scheduled for harvesting. Since then, the project has been on hold, but no agreement between the Forest Service and the tribe has been reached.

"It was remarkable to me," Tucker said. "It was such an egregious violation of the agreement, it was shocking to me."

Click here to read the lawsuit.

Click here to read the Forest Service's record of decision approving the project.

Gable is a freelance journalist based in Colorado Springs, Colo.