75 



proposal calling for an end to logging on Forest Service land. 



However, unless the flaws in the appeals process are corrected, 1 predict the situation will 

 only worsen. This May, the Sierra Club formally adopted a position to oppose all commercial timber 

 harvest on National Forest. Administrative appeals and litigation are tools they intend to use to 

 accomplish this. 



If this is allowed to happen, in the end the losers will be the thousands of small businesses 

 and their workers who depend in whole or in part on Forest Service timber. The U.S. consumer will 

 loose in the higher prices they must pay for fiber and wood products. And the taxpayer will loose 

 in the millions spent fighting appeals and litigation. Tax dollars that could be better spent 

 improving and protecting the National Forest themselves. 



II. APPEALS AND LITIGATION 



As mentioned above. Forest Service decision making focuses on both long term 

 management objectives through the forest planning process (10-15 years), and the shorter term 

 project-level decisions. Both of these are subject to appeal and litigation. I would now like to offer 

 specific examples of how time consuming and expensive this process has become. 



(1) Forest Plan Litigation-Cherokee National Forest 



As required by the National Forest Management Act of 1976, Forest Service personnel on 

 the Cherokee National Forest (CNF) made extensive efforts to involve the public in decisions 

 regarding the Forest Plan (the Plan) for the CNF. After seven years of work, the Plan was approved 

 on March 1, 1986. However on March 29, 1986, the Plan was appealed. 



It is significant to note that the issues listed in the appeal, such as below cost timber sales, 

 visual quality, and biodiversity were national policy disputes that extended beyond the scope of the 

 forest planning process. The appeal attempted to force the Forest Service to resolve these issues. 

 The appellants thought that if this could be done in their favor, then a precedent would be established 

 for other Forest Plans. 



Herein lies a fiindamental misuse of the process. Instead of using the appeals process to 

 address local management disagreements, the CNF Plan was appealed to advance a national agenda 



