West Virginia Timber Cut Will Harm Native Species, Group Alleges

The US Forest Service illegally approved a clear cutting project in West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest, an environmental group alleged in a lawsuit filed in federal court.

The Greenbrier Southeast Project involves extensive timber harvest—including hundreds of acres of clear cutting—and construction of more than 50 miles of roads and trails that will greatly impact the environmental health of the area, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy alleged in its lawsuit.

The forest management project will cause increased sedimentation in streams which will harm native brook trout and the endangered candy darter, according to the group’s complaint. But the Forest Service failed ...