Environmental groups and the U.S. Forest Service signed a settlement agreement earlier this month that ends a decade-long legal battle over the 2004 Sierra Nevada Framework Forest Plan Amendment, which affects management of the Sierra Nevada national forests in California.
“We’re encouraged to see collective movement towards conservation of the ecologically important wildlife habitat created by fire,” said Justin Augustine with the Center for Biological Diversity of the Oct. 9 agreement. “We look forward to working to make that happen so that at-risk species will be able to thrive on our public lands.”
A coalition of conservation groups led by Sierra Forest Legacy and including the Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and The Wilderness Society sued the government in 2005. The coalition claimed that the 2004 Framework plan failed to adequately protect old growth forests and associated wildlife species and was not consistent with national environmental laws. They were represented by legal teams from Earthjustice and the Sierra Club.
“The parties decided it was a better use of time and resources to sit down, roll up our sleeves and work on an agreement on these issues that were of concern to all of us,” said Barnie Gyant, Deputy Regional Forester for Natural Resources for the Pacific Southwest Region of the U.S. Forest Service. “Collaboration is a hallmark of this region. We’re excited about this agreement and what this means for all of us moving forward.”
The Forest Service began settlement discussions to revise the forest plans in the Sierra Nevada under the 2012 Planning Rule. In mid-2013, after years of court hearings, appeals, and the development of a voluminous court record, the Forest Service and the environmental groups began productive discussion on several key issues, including conservation of at-risk species, the need for increased fire use as a part of forest management, and conservation of post-fire forest conditions.
The settlement agreement documents include creation and analysis of conservation strategies for the Pacific fisher and the California spotted owl, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the increased use of managed fire for ecological benefit, and analysis of forest plan components for post-fire, complex early-seral habitat.
“Over the years we have found that Forest Service scientists, Forest Service leadership, and conservation groups, while not in perfect agreement, are beginning to share many of the same concerns over conservation of at-risk species, the positive role of fire as an ecological disturbance process in forest environments, and the need to improve management of post-fire habitats,” said Susan Britting, Executive Director of Sierra Forest Legacy. “This Settlement Agreement allows us to promote an ‘all-lands’ approach by using the best available science to improve forest resilience while protecting at-risk species.”
