SALT LAKE CITY— In response to a lawsuit by conservation groups, the U.S. Forest Service pulled its authorization of logging within 147,000 acres of sensitive roadless habitat in Utah’s Ashley National Forest.
In October 2023 the Forest Service authorized the Aspen Project, which would have bulldozed habitat for bighorn sheep, deer, elk, bear and raptors, including imperiled northern goshawks. The forest also provides habitat for elusive and rare forest dwellers, including lynx and wolverine.
“This announcement is a big win for the beautiful, wild aspen stands on the Ashley National Forest and for the plants and animals that depend on them,” said Ted Zukoski, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “While it’s a great relief the Aspen Project has been shelved for now, it never should’ve been approved in the first place. Our biologically rich natural places need to be protected, not logged.”
Although called a restoration project, the Aspen Project would have removed conifers and aspens using commercial logging and prescribed burns inside designated roadless areas across the forest. The federal Roadless Area Conservation Rule prohibits the cutting, sale or removal of trees inside roadless areas except in limited circumstances when the removal of generally small-diameter trees is allowed.
In authorizing the Aspen Project, the Forest Service violated the Roadless Rule by failing to place any limits on the size of trees to be logged. The agency had also refused to disclose exactly where or when the logging would occur.
“We thank the Forest Service for withdrawing this project to commercially log aspen in inventoried roadless areas in the Ashley National Forest,” said Mike Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. “We hope the Forest Service will now work with us to restore aspen by reducing cattle grazing, which is the cause of the decline of aspen stands.”
Aspen ecosystems support a wide array of plant and animal species because of their high productivity and structural diversity. Many consider it the most important deciduous forest type in western North America. In addition, aspen stands play an increasingly important role in the suppression and management of wildfires because they can act as natural fuel breaks.
“We appreciate that the Forest Service came to their senses and withdrew their plan to log and burn inventoried roadless areas on the Ashley,” said Sara Johnson, PhD, director of Native Ecosystems Council. “In the future, we hope they don't force us to take them to court. This project would have destroyed songbird habitat, many of which are declining in numbers. The government should be working to conserve these species, instead of coming up with plans to destroy their habitat.”
Ashley National Forest spans 1.4 million acres in northeastern Utah and southwestern Wyoming. The proposed logging project was entirely within the Utah portion of the forest.
The Ashley is renowned for its spectacular scenery, including the High Uintas Wilderness, located about 70 miles east of Salt Lake City, and King’s Peak, the highest point in Utah.
“As someone who has spent many days backpacking in wild aspen forests on the Ashley National Forest, I am thrilled that these precious places will not be destroyed by the Forest Service,” said Jason Christensen, director of Yellowstone to Uintas Connection.
The lawsuit was filed in the District of Utah with Oliver Wood representing Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Native Ecosystems Council and Yellowstone to Uintas Connection, and Ted Zukoski representing the Center.