A hearing on the re-evaluation of Forest Service policy in the Shawnee National Forest which environmentalists say will change the forest management plan is scheduled for Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Benton.

The hearing, scheduled for 3 p.m., comes after a lawsuit filed by two environmental groups, Regional Association of Concerned Environmentalists and the Sierra Club, in April 1994.

Judge J. Phil Gilbert scheduled the hearing after saying the Forest Service has not considered the cumulative impact of its actions, such as the service logging policy in the Shawnee National Forest.

Advertisement

Issues involved in the 1994 lawsuit include the use of all-terrain vehicles, the leasing of oil and gas rights and logging in Shawnee.

Gilbert made the ruling on the 1994 suit on Sept. 25. The judge ruled for both the Forest Service and the environmental groups.

The judge ruled for the environmental groups when they claimed the Forest Service did not consider the environmental impact of all-terrain vehicles and the leasing of gas and oil rights. But he ruled for the Forest Service on keeping particular areas of the forest open for the habitat of species and rejected the environmentalists’ objections to timber harvesting in the forest.

Gilbert also ruled that the effects of logging on the habitats of Illinois songbirds need to be thoroughly evaluated.

Environmentalist Joe Glisson said the re-evaluation of the Forest Service policy claims the environmentalists were correct in stating the Forest Service was not doing an adequate job of maintaining the forest. He also said the hearing was a triumph for the environmentalists.

The Forest Service declined comment on the hearing Monday.