78 



♦ On the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky, 1 7 timber sale appeals have been filed, 

 13 (76 percent) by the environmental group Heartwood. 



♦ On the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia, 38 timber sales appeals have been filed, 

 23 (60 percent) by the Sierra Club. 



♦ On the Ouchita National Forest in Arkansas, 57 timber sale appeals have been filed, 52 (91 

 percent) by a single appellant. 



♦ On the Ozark National Forest, also in Arkansas, 40 timber sale appeals have been filed, 1 8 

 by the same appellant who filed 52 appeals on the Ouchita. 



Project appeals may be successful tactics for delaying the proposed action, but they 

 contribute little new insight into these actions. To date, of the above appeals that have been decided, 

 the overwhelming majority were either dismissed or decided in favor of the Forest Service's original 

 opinion. 



Unable to achieve significant redirection in Forest Service actions, i.e. stopping timber sales, 

 there appears to be a shift fi^om administrative appeals to litigation. Perhaps anticipating the Court's 

 comments that judicial review would be more effective in the context of an actual timber sale, 

 environmental groups have begun litigation against timber sales on both the Ozark and the 

 Chattahoochee National Forest. We are concerned that the CNF will not be far behind. 



Probably due to the Forest Plan litigation and a lack of timber sales to appeal , there have 

 been fewer timber sale appeals on the CNF. However, there are two sales where we feel litigation 

 may be forthcoming. The Little Citico sale on the Tellico Ranger District has already been appealed 

 twice, and the Bear Branch sale on the Nolichucky Ranger District, is a roadless area the TWS 

 considers a "Tennessee Mountain Treasure". 



If the Chattahoochee and the Ozark are any indication, then the litigation will claim 

 violations of three laws: the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), and 

 the National Forest Management Act (NFMA). (See attached for more detailed discussion.) 



If the violation of the MBTA is upheld by the courts, this could well become the "spotted 

 owl" issue of the South. Its impact would not be confined to Forest Service land, as private 

 landowners would also be subject to the conditions of the Act. 



