Place: Kaibab National Forest, Arizona
Threat: Logging
 The Kaibab National Forest in Arizona is the gateway
to the Grand Canyon National Park's north rim and
home to some of the Southwest's most intact and
extensive remaining old growth forest.
However, the
ecological integrity of this special place and the ancient
forests and wildlife habitat within are threatened by a
proposed timber sale revived by the Bush
administration.
The East Rim timber sale is located north of Grand Canyon National Park and borders
steep canyon sides and the Saddle Mountain Wilderness Area. Although this area is 48
miles from the nearest community, the Forest Service is using "fire prevention" as a
justification to log thousands of old growth trees. The plan also includes extensive
logging within popular camping and recreation sites overlooking Grand Canyon National
Park, as well as areas directly adjacent to the heavily visited Saddle Mountain Wilderness
Area. Old growth trees are marked for logging at a scenic east rim overlook with
background views of the Grand Canyon, Marble Canyon Gorge, the Vermilion Cliffs and
portions of the Navajo and Hopi Reservations.
Despite the need for real fuel reduction in the forests near Flagstaff and other
communities, the administration is determined to keep this destructive old growth logging
project alive. The proposal to log thousands of old growth trees near the rim of the Grand
Canyon threatens this icon of America's protected places and shows the direction in
which the Bush administration is taking America's National Forests.
"The Bush administration should be funding projects that protect communities at risk
from wildfires, not logging old growth trees in a remote area of the backcountry near the
rim of the Grand Canyon," said Sharon Galbreath, a Sierra Club volunteer in northern
Arizona.
To date, 95 percent of the old growth in the Southwest has been logged. These forests
are dominated by small trees — approximately 90 percent of the remaining trees are 12
inches in diameter and smaller. The old growth left on the Kaibab National Forest is
especially important because it represents the best opportunity to restore old growth on a
landscape scale.
"For more than two decades we have witnessed the incremental destruction of a rare
ecosystem a few thousand trees at a time. No amount of creative accounting or rhetoric
by the Bush administration can change the sad reality of what is happening on the
ground," said Sandy Bahr with the Sierra Club in Arizona.
The Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity have challenged the East Rim timber
sale on the grounds that it would harm rare wildlife, create an increased risk of fire, and
illegally log within designated old growth forests as well as the Grand Canyon Game
Preserve.
When President Teddy Roosevelt designated this area as a game preserve in 1906, he
declared that it would be "set apart forever for the use and benefit of our people as a
whole and not sacrificed to the shortsighted greed of a few." However, the Bush
administration is doing exactly what Roosevelt sought to prevent when he urged
Congress to pass a law protecting this area — sacrificing it in the name of short-term
timber industry profits. The Bush administration's scheme to log thousands of old
growth trees near the rim of the Grand Canyon is another example of the Bush
administration undermining the conservation legacy first established by Roosevelt.
There is a better way. We can responsibly manage Arizona's and America's National
Forests and protect communities and our nation's wild heritage. The Bush administration
should be funding projects that protect communities at risk from wildfires, not logging
old growth trees in a remote area of the backcountry near the rim of the Grand Canyon.
Sierra Club Contact:
Sandy Bahr, Arizona: (602) 253-8633
Additional Info:
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