20141223 - GANG GREEN COLLABORATORS PART OF THE CORPORATE LOGGING INDUSTRY PARASITES BIG LIES? RE: The Colt Summit Timber Sale and Montana-Style Collaboration From Matthew Koehler Some of you may have seen this press release (bit.ly/1CxfdKO) from The Wilderness et al last week concerning the Colt Summit Timber Sale on the Lolo National Forest. The Wilderness Society, National Wildlife Federation, Montana Wilderness Association and others have filed another friend of the court briefing in support of the Lolo National Forests Colt Summit Timber Sale. Keep in mind, when the four conversation group plaintiffs filed this lawsuit it was the 1st timber sale lawsuit on the Lolo National Forest in OVER 5 YEARS. Also, about 5 years ago I warned people on the Appeals List that Tom France was telling people that the National Wildlife Federation was going to begin submitting friend of the court briefings in support of Forest Service logging projects. Some people doubted that, but here we are. It’s also worth pointing out that while the TWS et al press release claims: “The [Colt Summit] project was developed with the input of collaborative processes….” That’s simply not entirely true. This fact has been pointed out previously to reporters and on various newspaper comment sections. The Forest Services own official Colt Summit project file and the official court record does not support the assertion that Southwestern Crown of the Continent Collaborative (SWCC) helped create the Colt Summit Project, nor that they voted to approve the project. The record suggests that SWCC relied solely on the documents and information provided to them by the Forest Service in their discussions, without preparing their own information or investigating the project independently. There is nothing in the meeting notes discussing any environmental impacts, nor is there any evidence that SWCC looked at the impact this project would have on the wildlife in the project area. In fact, the meeting notes indicate that SWCC took the Forest Service’s documentation at face value and conducted no independent study of the project whatsoever. There is no evidence that SWCC had any input or participated in any way in creating the Colt Summit Project. The Forest Service provided them with a project, which they took at face value. There is also no evidence that a vote was ever taken to approve this project. The record actually reflects a higher level of involvement from the lawsuit Plaintiffs than from the collaborative. Plaintiffs, who are not members of the collaborative, attended ALL meetings, ALL field trips and submitted extensive, detailed and substantive comments during the ENTIRE NEPA process. The record reflects this elevated level of involvement by Plaintiffs, but only twice does SWCC’s meeting notes men[on this project. This in and of itself is telling that SWCC did not offer any input or was not involved in this project in any meaningful way. It’s also worth pointing out that the official record and Forest Service Colt Summit project file proves that many of the people and organization’s filing the Friend of the Court brief actually DID NOT participate in the NEPA process and submitted no official comments during the NEPA process. The NEPA process is the ONLY official PUBLIC process REQUIRED to have a say in public lands National Forest management. Participation in OPTIONAL collaborative groups like the SWCC is NOT required. Something else worth considering is that while Missoula County Commissioner Jean Curtis claims “The Colt Summit project will help reduce the threat and severity of wildfire near the community of Seeley Lake….” The Colt Summit timber sale is actually located 10 to 12 air miles from the community of Seeley Lake. Finally, it’s worth pointing out that the Colt Summit timber sale is located within some of the last unlogged forests in the valley. As you can clearly see in this google-earth fly-over this part of Montana includes a high concentration of previous clearcuts and logging roads. youtu.be/uqh-VnK_z3s Thanks, Matthew Koehler WildWest Institute SEE THE BS from the Wilderness SOciety attached
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 16:36:40 +0000
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