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Stimson Access Upheld
August 27, 2004
By Chip Murray
Chip_Murray@afandpa.org or 202-463-2782
Forest Resources, a report on forestry issues
"Improving tomorrow's environment today"
The American Forest & Paper Association, Inc. (AF&PA)
1111 19th Street NW, Suite 800
Washington, D.C. 20036
Questions/Comments: ForestResources@afandpa.org
The eastern Washington State federal court on August 20, 2004, denied a preliminary injunction against the decision by the Forest Service giving permission to Stimson Lumber Co. to construct a road across a roadless area to access a 500-plus acre parcel owned by the company that is surrounded by the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. The case is The Lands Council v. Kimbell.The court found that the environmentalist plaintiffs were not likely to win their claims in the case. First, the court ruled that Stimson has a statutory right of reasonable access under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). Plaintiffs had argued that the section in ANILCA recognizing the reasonable right of access to private property within a national forest is limited to Alaska. Second, the court found that the agency adequately considered cumulative impacts on grizzly bears and water quality from the access grant. The case is now on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Stimson and the Forest Service, supported by a brief from AF&PA, won a similar appeal in 2002. |