The U.S. Forest Service has been told by a federal appeals court that it hasn’t done enough study to justify four timber sales in the Tongass National Forest. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that their analysis must better analyze deer habitat and assure a habitat for the wolves that prey on those deer.
The Forest Service declined to comment on the ruling and the Alaska Forest Association could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The plaintiffs are Greenpeace and Cascadia Wildlands. Larry Edwards is a campaigner for Greenpeace in Sitka.
At issue is the deer model that has been fought about for decades. Â The sales affected are at Traitors Cove near Ketchikan, Soda Nick on Prince of Wales and the Overlook and Scott Peak projects near Petersburg.
Deanna Garrison is a reporter at KRBD in Ketchikan.
