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California forests had some good news this week: an agreement between conservation groups and the U.S. Forest Service that will see better protection for nearly a million acres of forest that were slated for potential road construction or other development.
The agreement settles a lawsuit against the Forest Service by seven environmental groups.
The Press Enterprise explains the background:
Environmental groups took issue with Forest Service plans that in 2005 designated more than 900,000 roadless acres for possible road building or other development, the groups say in a statement released this week.
The groups also contended the service did not do proper environmental reviews and ignored an alternative that would have better protected plant and animal life.The agreement now calls for federal and state agencies, conservationists and off-road vehicle users to work together to improve and protect the roadless areas and have input on other planned road development, Anderson said.
And here's a little more about the forests involved in the settlement, from Edhat:
The Los Padres National Forest encompasses nearly 2 million acres in the coastal mountains of central California, stretching from the Big Sur coast to the western edge of Los Angeles County. The Angeles, near Los Angeles, contains 663,000 acres. The San Bernardino includes 665,700 acres and abuts the Inland Empire. The Cleveland includes 420,000 acres in Orange and San Diego counties. Many wildlife habitats will be protected by the new plans, including the arroyo toad, California condor, California red-legged frog, California spotted owl, least Bell's vireo, northern goshawk, mountain yellow-legged frog, southern California steelhead trout, and southwestern willow flycatcher.
To help other forests nationwide, check out this Petition Site letter to Obama calling for better legislation to protect national forests.
More on forests and conservation:
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