Judge orders environmental groups to
post bond in logging case
Associated Press
BUTTE -- A federal judge has ordered environmental groups
suing over the logging of beetle-killed trees in the Basin Creek area south of
here to post a $100,000 bond to cover the potential costs of delaying the
project.
The U.S. Forest Service requested the bond, arguing it
stands to lose $400,000 to $600,000 if logging is delayed for a year pending an
appeal by the groups to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy this week set the bond
at $100,000, saying the amount would be large enough to "ensure meaningful
accountability" if the appeals court upholds his earlier ruling that the
project is in the public interest and should proceed.
The Native Ecosystems Council, Alliance for the Wild
Rockies, and the Ecology Center had argued that small nonprofit organizations
shouldn't have to post a bond, and requested that the amount be set at $1. The
groups have since vowed to appeal.
"There's no precedent for this, so we're confident it will
be overturned," said Michael Garrity, executive director of Alliance for the
Wild Rockies. "If it were allowed to stand, it would have a chilling effect on
citizens who are trying to stop illegal logging and protect fish and wildlife
on public lands."
The Forest Service has contracted with Townsend-based R-Y
Timber Inc. to remove beetle-killed trees from roughly 1,600 acres south of
Butte in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest to help reduce the fire
danger in the area.
Butte-Silver Bow County officials have long expressed
concern that a fire in the Basin Creek area could harm Butte's watershed,
forcing the county to build an expensive water filtration plant.
The harvest has been off to a rocky start.
In August, Molloy agreed to a temporary restraining order
while he weighed a suit filed by the environmental groups.
In October, he ruled in favor of the Forest Service,
citing the risks associated with allowing the trees to stand.
The environmental groups appealed, asking Molloy for
another injunction until the appeal could be settled. Molloy agreed, and
logging stopped shortly before Thanksgiving.
The Forest Service then asked the judge to allow crews to
pick up the logs that already had been cut. The judge agreed in his most recent
order.
Ed Regan, resource manager for R-Y Timber, applauded
Molloy's latest decision, calling the bond order "very rare."
"This is going to require the environmentalists to put
their money where their mouth is," he said. "Instead of just the cost of a 37
cent stamp, Judge Molloy is making these groups accountable for their deeds.
Now they have something to lose."
Garrity argued that timber companies also should be
concerned with the bond amount. The tables could turn, he said, and in cases
where logging is found to be illegal, companies could be forced to post bonds
to restore old growth forest they've damaged.
He added that the three nonprofits "don't have anywhere
close to $100,000 in
assets."
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