• the Sierra Club sues the Forest Service for not doing what the Endangered Species Act requires it to do
• the Endangered Species act prohibited taking and jeopardizing an endangered population
• taking meant harming
• jeopardizing meant reducing chances of survival
• the law requiring environmental impact studies also comes in here: the study would show whether an action would cause harm
  
• clearcutting of longleaf stands did both, even if it was done to control southern pine beetle infestations
• The Forest Service hadn't written an environmental impact statement for the control program
• it included harvesting of trees that wouldn't otherwise have been harvested because they were in an area designated as wilderness
  
• the Forest Service had to narrow their beetle control program before the court would accept it

Note: history of wilderness designation (wilderness status that could be used to set aside land):

• the Forest Service had already set aside some wilderness areas before the mid 1950s, but they weren't permanently protected (Forest Service could change the classification of the land) and not enough
• Wilderness Society (formed in 1935) advocated a new law to permanently protect wilderness areas within National Parks, National Forests and other publicly owned land
  
• Congress worked on a wilderness bill from 1957 to 1964
• opposition: many interests argued for multiple use instead of protected wilderness used by few
• advocates wanted to preserve some land as wilderness, defined as no roads even for firefighting
  
• when the bill was passed it included 9.1 million acres, not the original 60 million
• but it provided a mechanism for permanent protection and more land could be added
• Wilderness Act of 1964

Red Cockaded Woodpecker was designated as an endangered species in 1970
more intensive management even of longleaf was taking away the older trees the birds needed and fire suppression had changed the forest
what more might the Forest Service do?
environmentalists argue that current management practices were jeopardizing the woodpecker

in the Francis Marion National Forest hurricane Hugo in 1989 destroyed most of the nesting cavity trees and killed more than half the birds

• should natural disasters be counted as part of nature?
• if you only have one viable population a hurricane can destroy it
  

Much controversy over how much management practices needed to be changed to help the birds

• the problem according to the environmentalists was clearcutting and even age management, Forest Service justified this by science as well as profit
  
• how did the Forest Service define efficiency?
• multiple use; you can use the same land for timber and wildlife and recreation
  
• part of the question was scientific--did natural damage to the forest produce something equivalent to clearcuts?
• scientists argued that more natural management would be to take a few large trees at a time--uneven age management
• but by leaving old trees for the birds you reduce wood production
• you can manage for multiple use, but it isn't going to be easy to agree on what are the best set of tradeoffs because it depends on your values