A federal lawsuit stemming from a 65,000-acre fire in Central Washington last summer challenges the U.S. Forest Service’s authority to suspend environmental laws and take emergency actions during a wildfire.
A Eugene-based environmental group, Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, alleges that the agency broke the law by not analyzing the environmental effects of building a 50-mile long, 30-foot wide “community protection line.” At the time, fire officials said the line was to safeguard rural hamlets in Chelan County from the Wolverine Fire burning in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.
The fire remained miles away, and the line was unnecessary, destructive and violated the National Environmental Policy Act’s requirement to assess beforehand the impact of federal actions, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Aug. 16 in the U.S. District Court in Spokane.
Andy Stahl, the environmental group’s executive director, said Wednesday his organization wants the Forest Service to review how it fights fires, before continuing to give incident commanders free reign to declare an emergency. “The Forest Service needs to make informed, thoughtful decisions,” he said. “Obviously, if you’re in the middle of a war, right in the middle of conflict, you don’t have time to make the analysis of what makes sense and what doesn’t.”
The Forest Service declined to comment on the lawsuit. A spokeswoman for the Washington Forest Protection Association, which represents private timberland owners, said the organization was concerned about inhibiting the ability of fire commanders to contain blazes burning on adjacent federal lands.
From the Capital Press: https://www.capitalpress.com/Washington/20160825/washington-fire-sparks-suit-over-federal-firefighting-powers