The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council want a federal judge to stop the proposed Iron Springs Timber Sale on the Aquarius Plateau, which overlooks the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Southern Utah, and require the Forest Service to do an Environmental Impact Statement.
According to the Forest Service, the project targets approximately 4,600 acres that are in need of thinning to aid growth and health and improve the mix of tree types; are populated by trees damaged by bark beetle infestations; or are areas in need of reforesting due to 1960s-era harvests.
The proposed timber sale is located about 15 miles northwest of Escalante and includes several hundred acres of old-growth forest, according to the two groups. Dead trees in the area are home to beetles that are food for three-toed woodpeckers, the conservation groups said. Salt Lake Tribune
