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NEWS RELEASE April 10, 2008 Forest Service Reverses DecisionLaramie - An administrative appeal filed by Laramie-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and other groups challenging a decision of the Black Hills National Forest was upheld today. The decision by the Mystic Ranger District to carve a small project out of a much larger project in order to avoid doing the required environmental analysis was reversed. The smaller Scout Camp Project fuels reduction project (250 acres), which is located southwest of Hill City, was cut out of the large 44,000 acre Upper Spring Creek Project currently undergoing environmental review. “The Forest Service didn’t provide any justification for segmenting the project, and the Forest Service Appeals Officer agreed with us,” said Suzanne Lewis, Conservation Advocate with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “They just wanted to speed up the approval process and bypass statutory requirements that they assess the environmental consequences before they implement the project.” “The Forest Service needs to take a hard look at the environmental consequences of a project before it occurs,” said Nancy Hilding of Prairie Hills Audubon Society in Rapid City, South Dakota. “Our win helps to ensure that the Forest Service will take a harder look at the environmental consequences of future projects and thus do a better job of caring for the Black Hills.” In addition to Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and Prairie Hills Audubon Society, Western Watersheds Project in Lander, Wyoming also joined the appeal. Contact information:
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Biodiversity Conservation Alliance P.O. Box 1512, Laramie, WY 82073 (307) 742-7978 - carmi@voiceforthewild.org |