JUNEAU -- Environmental groups announced Thursday that they were appealing the Big Thorne timber sale, the U.S. Forest Service's biggest Tongass National Forest sale in years. The agency said it was disappointed that the sale it had spent years preparing was again being challenged.
"It's just another legal roadblock that's really putting a wrench in us getting to our transition to young growth," said Kent Cummins, a Ketchikan-based spokesperson for the Forest Service's Tongass office.
The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, the Natural Resources Defense Council and several other groups have sued to block the Big Thorne sale but federal judge Ralph Beistline last week rejected their challenge.
Now the groups, represented by environmental law firm Earthjustice, are appealing to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. And this time they're asking for an injunction to stop imminent logging, something they hadn't done before.
Earthjustice's Holly Harris said that this time an injunction is needed because logging could begin as soon as Wednesday.
"In a case like Big Thorne, thousand of acres of old growth forest on the Tongass could be destroyed before the 9th Circuit has the opportunity to review the Forest Service's decisions," she said.
But Cummins said that the sale, purchased by Klawock's Viking Lumber Co., would provide jobs for 12 to 30 cutters starting Wednesday and provide bridge timber to keep Viking, the region's largest mill, and several mom-and-pop mills going. He confirmed the plan is to begin logging as soon as next week.
The Forest Service wants to transition to entirely second-growth timber eventually but needs "bridge" timber to get there and have viable mills still around to harvest it, he said.
The Big Thorne sale covers 8,000 acres, about 6,000 of which is old growth, he said. It would be harvested over seven to 10 years.
Harris said the sale is too big.
"The situation is made even worse by the sheer enormity of the of the Big Thorne sale; the Forest Service hasn't approved a timber sale this massive in more than 20 years," she said.
The groups that sued to block the sale also challenged the Tongass Land Management Plan, under which the sale was authorized. Beistline combined both suits for his ruling approving the sale.
SEACC Executive Director Malena Marvin said the Forest Service should abandon old-growth logging and instead focus on supporting the region's thriving fishing and tourism industries.
"We're looking for a solution that keeps jobs in the woods without sacrificing key habitat for deer, bear, wolf and salmon. We support projects that will be compatible with the region's fishing and tourism industries -- as well as deer hunting opportunities -- over the long run."