Peter Segall | Juneau Empire                                 Earthjustice attorney Tom Waldo speaks with reporters at the Robert Boochever U.S. Courthouse at the Hurff Ackerman Saunders Federal Building in downtown Juneau on Friday.

Peter Segall | Juneau Empire Earthjustice attorney Tom Waldo speaks with reporters at the Robert Boochever U.S. Courthouse at the Hurff Ackerman Saunders Federal Building in downtown Juneau on Friday.

Prince of Wales timber sale goes to court

Environmental review doesn’t meet standards, conservation groups say

The Environmental Impact Statement for potential timber sales on U.S. Forest Service land on Prince of Wales Island fails to meet environmental standards under federal law, a case heard Friday alleges.

The case was brought against the U.S. Forest Service by the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, a Juneau-based environmental group being represented by lawyers from the environmental law firm Earthjustice.

SEACC argued the EIS drafted by the Forest Service failed to meet the standards established under the National Environmental Protection Act, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and the National Forest Management Act.

Lawyers for SEACC claim that because the exact areas meant to be harvested for timber are not specified, the EIS doesn’t meet the standards for site specific analysis under NEPA.

“The EIS identified which areas within the roughly 1.8-million-acre project area could potentially be harvested over the Project’s 15-year period, but expressly left site-specific determinations for the future,” SEACC’s complaint alleges.

In arguments heard at the Robert Boochever U.S. Courthouse at the Hurff Ackerman Saunders Federal Building in downtown Juneau, Earthjustice lawyer Tom Waldo argued that approving of the EIS would mark a substantial and unwarranted change in how NEPA had been applied in the past.

“The EIS doesn’t disclose the location of any timber sale or any roads to be logged over the next 15 years on Prince of Wales Island, and that is completely inadequate for an EIS. No court has ever upheld an EIS with so little detail,” Waldo told reporters after the hearing.

Arguing on behalf of the Forest Service was Erika Norman, trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice. The Forest Service’s methodology in the EIS was sound, Norman told the judge, and said the draft EIS contains maps and specific areas for timber sale. The Forest Service created what it calls “Activity Cards” which detail the various actions that might take place in a certain area.

“Resource concerns are often mitigated by design criteria, as well as adherence to 2016 Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan,” according to Forest Service documents concerning the cards. “All Forest Plan direction and best management practices will be implemented. All other applicable laws and regulations will be followed.”

Norman also said the sales were an effort to bring much economic activity to many of the small mills located in the area which rely on timber harvest for their livelihood.

“The Forest Service has analyzed the overall plan for the project, they have analyzed every logging scenario that could be implemented,” Norman told the court.

But SEACC alleges that timber harvest could harm local subsistence lifestyles on the island, and the fact that it’s not yet clear where the eventual timber harvest will take place adds uncertainty to local people’s lives.

A timber harvest, “might be right next door to you or they might be a hundred miles away,” Waldo said.

SEACC is requesting a preliminary injunction against any timber sales or contracts for harvest. Friday’s hearing was the first oral arguments in the case and it is not yet clear when the judge will call for further hearings.

• Contact reporter Peter Segall at 523-2228 or psegall@juneauempire.com.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of Feb. 1

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

Students arrive at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé for the first day of the 2024-25 school year Aug. 15. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Students return unharmed to school after smoke detected at JDHS

CCFR gave the “all clear” for school to resume normal schedule.

Fireworks detonate just above a barge in Gastineau Channel due to a mishap during the show that began just after midnight on July 4, 2023. (Photo by Bob Gross)
City leaders consider alternatives to July 4 fireworks show after 2023 mishap raises safety concerns

Assembly members OKs same show this year if volunteer group willing, exploring other options for future.

Tim Ackerman begins the process of removing a dead seal’s pelt on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, on the Letnikof Cove shoreline. (Rashah McChesney/Chilkat Valley News)
Five headless seals have washed up on Chilkat Valley beaches in the last few months; here’s possibly why

Local marine mammal hunter weighs says the carcasses offer a glimpse into Alaska’s marine ecosystem.

Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people gather in Juneau for the opening of Celebration on June 5, 2024. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
New lawsuit seeks to limit Alaska Native tribes’ authority, stop Eklutna gambling hall

State challenges legal interpretation that allows tribes to exert authority over as much as 2.7M acres.

The Alaska State Capitol is seen on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in front of snow-covered Mount Juneau. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Gov. Dunleavy proposes new limits on Alaskans’ ability to record conversations

A new proposal from Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy would require all sides… Continue reading

Jamiann S’eiltin Hasselquist asks participants to kneel as a gesture to “stay grounded in the community” during a protest in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday focused on President Donald Trump’s actions since the beginning of his second term. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Trump protest rally at Alaska State Capitol targets Nazi-like salutes, challenges to Native rights

More than 120 people show up as part of nationwide protest to actions during onset of Trump’s second term.

A sign at the former Floyd Dryden Middle School on Monday, June 24, 2024, commemorates the school being in operation from 1973 to 2024. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Assembly ponders Floyd Dryden for tribal youth programs, demolishing much of Marie Drake for parking

Tlingit and Haida wants to lease two-thirds of former middle school for childcare and tribal education.

A person is detained in Anchorage in recent days by officials from the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (FBI Anchorage Field Office photo)
Trump’s immigration raids arrive in Alaska, while Coast Guard in state help deportations at southern US border

Anchorage arrests touted by FBI, DEA; Coast Guard plane from Kodiak part of “alien expulsion flight operations.”

Most Read