The road will allow access for the Orion North Reoffer Timber Sale, which offers 6.4 million board feet of timber harvested by clear-cut from about 360 acres near Thorne Arm on Revillagigedo Island in Southeast.
U.S. District Court Judge John W. Sedwick ruled April 30 that the U.S. Forest Service had taken the necessary steps in reviewing new scientific information before moving ahead with the timber sale. He refused to temporarily halt the work. Conservation groups have appealed. The lawsuit was filed in March by the Tongass Conservation Society and five other groups.
It seeks to have the Forest Service do a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement because of significant changes in the Tongass National Forest and advances in scientific research. The court still has to rule on the merits of the lawsuit.
Orion North was part of the larger Sea Level Timber Sale, which originally offered 51 million board feet and 20 miles of new road in 1999.
Harvesting has been completed for all sections except Orion North, said Tongass National Forest Supervisor Forrest Cole.
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