Setting off a firestorm of local protest in Idaho, a
federal judge ruled Jan. 9 that the Forest Service should
temporarily halt mining, grazing, logging and road-building
activities on six national forests. U.S. District Judge David Ezra
said that the agency had to stop all ongoing activities until it
consulted with federal biologists about effects on endangered
salmon. The ruling, which responded to a lawsuit brought by the
Wilderness Society and the Pacific Rivers Council, provoked quick
responses from communities surrounding the Challis-Salmon,
Sawtooth, Nez Perce, Boise and Payette national forests. “Do they
want to see just how violent we can become?” Gary Barrett, owner of
the Lantern Bar in Salmon, asked in the Idaho Falls Post-Register.
“You can only push people so far.” The ruling could have shut down
mines employing some 800 people. But before the injunction could go
into effect, Judge Ezra issued a temporary stay until Jan. 28 to
allow an appeal for the Forest Service and industry groups. Later,
at the request of the environmental plaintiffs, he extended the
stay until March 15 to complete its consultation with the National
Marine Fisheries Service. The plaintiffs, who have taken a lot of
heat, including some from their own environmental colleagues, say
the intense reaction was fanned by industry misinformation. But
their attorney Kristen Boyles says the judge made it clear that the
injunction was only meant to be temporary and target those projects
that could harm the salmon.
*Paul
Larmer
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Idaho salmon suit angers locals.
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