Forest Service Must Redraw Maps for Washington Logging Project

The US Forest Service must conduct another review of a timber harvesting project in the Colville National Forest after a federal judge said the agency wasn’t specific enough in detailing logging locations.

The US District Court for the Eastern District of Washington sent the environmental assessment back to the Forest Service on Tuesday to correct project maps that were too vague for “condition-based management” on 40,300 acres of federal land.

Specifically, the court vacated the Finding of No Significant Impact under the National Environmental Policy Act. Judge Rebecca L. Pennell acknowledged the US Supreme Court’s recent decision reining in judicial ...