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Iron Honey project nixed by appeals court rulingAugust 16, 2004
The Forest Service touted the Iron Honey project on the Little North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River as a new way of doing business. Crews were to wipe out 75 miles of roads and remove 170 culverts. The intent was to reduce erosion. The project also called for 29 miles of old roads to be rebuilt for recreation purposes. And timber was to be harvested from 14-hundred acres. Conservation groups didn't like it, so they sued, arguing the Forest Service hadn't considered all the impacts of the projects. They lost in federal district court, but appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and, on August 13, they won. Barry Rosenburg from the Kootenai Environmental Alliance in Coeur d'Alene rejoiced. "It think this is the most comprehensive condemnation of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest by the courts I have ever seen," said Rosenburg. "It covers so many issues that the National Forest will have to redo their analysis system." Rosenburg says the court ruled the agency couldn't adequately determine what effect the timber harvest would have on water quality, wildlife and soils. Idaho Panhandle National Forest spokesman Dave O'Brien says agency officials are disappointed and consider the project dead. "We still think this is an excellent project," said O'Brien. "The court didn't rule on the permits of the project. It's more the analysis of what we did or didn't look at." O'Brien says the Forest Service will re-examine the way it analyzes projects and the impact timber harvest may have. By Doug Nadvornick 
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