ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina ruled Tuesday that a plan that would have expanded logging operations in two western North Carolina national forests violated the Endangered Species Act.
The ruling voids the 2024 forest management plan for the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests.
According to the court ruling, the plan violated the Endangered Species Act and was created using inaccurate data about what the forest needed to sustain its long-term health.
The initial draft of the management plan supported increased logging in order to create more “young forest” habitat or habitat with fewer tall trees and more brush and saplings. The plan claimed this would help prevent wildfires and support new habitats.
Environmental groups, including MountainTrue, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Southern Environmental Law Center, sued. These groups claimed the plan didn’t take into account natural tree loss from events like Hurricane Helene and that the plan downplayed the impact of increased logging on endangered bats in the area.
Channel 9’s Climate Reporter Michelle Alfini met with MountainTrue in Pisgah National forest last year to discuss the lawsuit and how the forest was recovering from Hurricane Helene.
Under the new court ruling, the U.S. Forest Service must prepare a new management plan for the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests.
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