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GAO-01-51R 1 (2000-11-30)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaalrj0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Accountability Integrity* Reliability United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548 November 30, 2000 The Honorable Jeff Sessions United States Senate Subject: Consequences of the Ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Forest Management Projects Dear Senator Sessions: In February 1999, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit (the appeals court); which consists of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia; reversed a January 30, 1998, district court decision on the Forest Service's management of timber-cutting projects in the Chattahoochee National Forest. The Sierra Club challenged the Forest Service's approval of eight timber sale projects in this forest and alleged that the Forest Service lacked the required inventory or population data on (1) the proposed, endangered, threatened, or sensitive species of plants and animals and (2) the management indicator species (selected representative species used to estimate the effects of forest plans on forest ecosystems) required by the Chattahoochee-Oconee Forest Plan and the Forest Service's own regulations. The appeals court held that the Forest Service's approval of these projects was arbitrary and capricious because the agency lacked the required inventory or population data. Originally, we underto o k this work at the request o f the late Senator Paul D. Coverdell. You requested that we continue this work. As agreed with your office, this report addresses (1) the number of the Forest Service's timber sales and vegetative management projects (such as trail construction work and prescribed burning) suspended as a result of the appeals court's decision and (2) the types of financial, economic, environmental, and other consequences that the Forest Service and other stakeholders have attributed to the appeals court's decision. As agreed, we obtained data describing the suspended projects and the related consequences when available. When data were unavailable, we obtained the opinions of Forest Service officials and other stakeholders, including environmental, community, and recreational groups, about the potential consequences. When possible, we provide quantitative information on the consequences attributed to the appeals court's decision. Results in Brief The decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit resulted in the Forest Service's suspending or maintaining the suspension of 49 projects within GAO-01-51R Forest Management Projects

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