Environmentalists seek to join lawsuit

A group of environmental conservationists has asked to join the U.S. Forest Service in a legal battle over the fate of one of the most popular four-wheel driving areas in the Southeast.

The Southern Environmental Law Center has asked the court to allow it to become a defendant in the lawsuit brought against the Forest Service in May by four-wheel-drive groups.
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The groups oppose the government’s move to temporarily close the Upper Tellico Off-Highway Vehicle area to reduce muddy runoff in creeks and streams.

The intervention doesn’t necessarily mean the environmentalists are in lockstep with the government agency over what should happen in the Tellico, said DJ Gerken, the center’s senior attorney.

The group has disagreed with the Forest Service in the past and takes a different view of why the agency had to close the area last winter. It says the Forest Service was legally obligated to close the area to prevent water pollution.

The Forest Service believes it had the right to close the area, but not a legal obligation, Gerken said.

If the court grants the request, it will mean the environmentalists will be allowed to present their case for limiting four-wheel-drive access in conjunction with any defense the government might offer.

“We would stand in the shoes of the Forest Service as if the four-wheelers had sued us,” Gerken said.

His group is representing Trout Unlimited, WildSouth and Public Employees for Environmental Responsi-bility.

The Forest Service began looking at runoff problems after the environmental groups threatened to sue the agency last summer, alleging the Forest Service violated laws by failing to prevent mud from eroded trails from polluting streams.

The agency shut down all trails in the Upper Tellico last winter and temporarily closed 4.4 miles of some of the area’s most widely used trails for about a year to help reduce sediment, improve water quality and allow time to repair trails.

The Forest Service also performed two studies that showed “numerous instances” of sediment from trails reaching the Tellico River and its tributaries.

The trail closures prompted three off-road vehicle groups to sue the Forest Service in May to restore access to the trails, which they said were improperly closed.

The Forest Service this summer proposed permanently reducing the trail system by 15.5 miles by closing two trails and trimming mileage on several others in the 39.5-mile area.

It also suggested a seasonal closure of the entire system Jan. 1-March 31 and short-term closures following heavy rain.

A spokesman for the Southern Four Wheel Drive Association did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Gerken said the next step in the process is for a judge to allow his group to intervene. After that, the environmentalists could ask the court to dismiss the lawsuit brought.

Source: http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880921051

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