The Tongass Conservation Society and others filed the federal lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service. The lawsuit claims the agency didn't assess new information before awarding a road construction project of about 8 miles leading to a timber sale at Thorne Arm.
Tongass National Forest spokesman Phil Sammon says the government will respond to the lawsuit within the required time. However, he says, the road project and timber sale will proceed unless the court issues an injunction.
The sale would include about 6 million board feet of timber harvested from about 380 acres off the east side of Thorne Arm.
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