Judge rejects off-highway plan for Stanislaus National Forest

[lobsterdmb]

PUBLIC LANDS: Judge rejects off-highway plan for Stanislaus National Forest

Debra Kahn, E&E reporter
E&E PM: Monday, January 7, 2013

A federal judge has rejected the Forest Service's plan for motorized travel in Stanislaus National Forest in California, saying it might not go far enough in reducing environmental damage from off-highway vehicles.

At issue is the Forest Service's 2009 travel management decision, which added 137 miles of routes for off-highway vehicles to the existing 85 miles of trails in the forest in California's Sierra Nevada range.

Judge Kimberly Mueller of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California wrote that while the plan doesn't violate the National Environmental Policy Act, it violates the Forest Service's own travel management rule (TMR), which requires the agency to manage off-highway vehicles in a way that minimizes damage to the environment.

Mueller ordered a hearing Feb. 15 on potential repairs to the plan.

"The Forest Service squandered an important opportunity to finally do something about highly destructive impacts caused by off-road vehicles in the Stanislaus Forest," said Erin Tobin, an attorney for Earthjustice, which represented three other environmental groups. "This decision confirms that the Forest Service needs to do a better job of protecting the forest and its streams and wildlife from these damaging machines."

[XJensen]

Well that's swell....