Environmental groups to file lawsuit over latest Nantahala-Pisgah National Forest plan

Environmental advocates Wednesday filed official notice of a pending federal lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service's management plan for the Nantahala and Pisgah national forests. They say the plan violates the federal Endangered Species Act.

Since 2014, the federal agency has been working on a 30-year management plan for the future of the land. The forests, which stretch along North Carolina's western state line and include parts of the Appalachian Trail and Blue Ridge Parkway, drive recreational tourism in the 18 counties they touch. The land is also a key resource for the state’s forestry industry.

Officials with the U.S. Forest Service released a draft management plan last year that generated more than 22,000 objections, a record. The final plan was released in February.

In a companion document released with the final plan, James Melonas, state supervisor of the national forests, said that the plan "accelerates the development of young forest and open forest, which are currently underrepresented on the landscape, while also ensuring that there are places on the landscape where development of old growth characteristics will be prioritized."

Environmental groups widely panned the final plan for opening too much of the forest to logging, including 44,000 acres of old-growth forest, while failing to protect the endangered and threatened species that live in it.

In the notice of the lawsuit, filed Wednesday, lawyers for the Southern Environmental Law Center say the forest is home to 28 federally listed endangered and threatened species, as well as 29 other species that are candidates for that recognition. Many of those species have declined dramatically over past decades and require more stringent protection than the final forest plan offers them.

"For example, the northern long-eared bat, which relies on mature forested habitat in the [forests], has declined by more than 90% over the past few decades," attorneys for the SELC said in the notice. "These declines should not be secondary considerations, subordinated to timber or game wildlife management. Instead, reversing these declines is central to the Forest Service’s mission."

The filing also alleges that the Forest Service years ago provided incomplete or incorrect information to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which subsequently issued an official opinion that the additional logging planned would have little impact on the listed species.

"We cannot sit back while this irresponsible forest plan ignores the science, breaks the law, and puts these remarkable species at risk.” Sam Evans, leader of SELC’s National Forests and Parks Program, said in a news release. “Forest plans are revised only every 20 years or so, and our endangered bats won’t last that long unless we get this plan right.”

U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Jenifer Bunty said the agency cannot comment on ongoing litigation.

"Diverse opinions and ideas about how to manage the Nantahala and Pisgah are inherent in the complexity of carrying out the Forest Service’s multiple use mission in some of the most visited and biodiverse national forests in the country," Bunty said. "Our commitment is that we will always strive to listen to and convene diverse perspectives to make the best decisions, informed by science, so we can create healthy and resilient forests now and for the future. "