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, the Regional Association of Concerned Environmentalists and the Sierra Club in April 1994.

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

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

Recently the Cripps Bend portion of Shawnee, was logged by the Carbondale Veneer Company. Prior to the cut, protesting environmentalists camped in the forest in an effort to stop the logging. However, a temporary restraining order which would have halted the logging was denied and the logging project was completed.

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. The judge ruled for the Forest Service on keeping particular areas of the forest open for the habitat of species and rejected the environmentalist’s objections to timber harvesting in the forest.

Environmentalist Joe Glisson said the re-evaluation of the Forest Service policy validates the environmentalists statements that the Forest Service was not doing an adequate job of maintaining the forest. He also stated the hearing was a triumph for the environmentalists.

The Forest Service declined comment on the hearing Monday.