Lori D. Clark and Marc Chase

Another appeal will be filed in federal court Tuesday to try to stop logging in the Shawnee National Forest, despite the failure of a similar appeal earlier this month, a local environmentalist says.

Bill Cronin, a local environmentalist, said he plans to refile an appeal which states that logging in the Cripps Bend area of the forest, located near Pamona, may disrupt the habitat of the Indiana bat.

Advertisement

Cronin said if the appeal is filed, then the logging will cease on a seven-acre region of Cripps Bend until the judge is able to review the case more thoroughly.

The same appeal, which states that the U.S. Forest Service has not adequately determined that logging will not harm the bat, a federally endangered specie, was filed earlier this month.

Federal Judge Phil Gilbert ruled against the initial appeal, stating that Cronin did not supply significant evidence that the Indiana bat’s habitat would be disrupted. Gilbert’s ruling stated that the Forest Service had done an adequate job in determining that the bat would not be harmed by the logging.

Cronin said part of the reason the judge denied the earlier appeal was because it did not follow a set time limit for appeals to be filed. He said such appeals need to be filed after a 60-day notice of intent to sue. The 60-day period expires on Tuesday, allowing the appeal to be refiled, Cronin said.

Cronin said protecting the Indiana bat is just as much a concern for him as preventing the logging of Cripps Bend trees.

Mist netting is a process where nets are hung in trees which capture bats to determine if the animal is present in a particular area.

Forest Service officials said they used sonar to detect if bats were in the region and said mist netting was not necessary. Using sonar meets the requirements for the terrain of the Cripps Bend area, the officials said.

Advertisement*

Cronin said the Forest Service had no desire to detect bats in Cripps Bend.

They didn’t want to find any bats in here (Cripps Bend). God forbid, they couldn’t cut the trees then, he said.

After Gilbert ruled in favor of the Forest Service, Carbondale Veneer, a logging company, moved into the area last Thursday to resume the cutting.

Environmentalists protesting the logging have been camped near Cripps Bend since Sept. 13.

Protesters said they have morning prayer vigils in front of the restricted area where loggers are cutting trees.

That’s all we can do. We’re here on a peaceful mission, Kenneth Graff, a logging protester from Murphysboro, said.

Graff said his father is in the logging business and is against the cut.

My father would be the first to tell you we don’t need the Shawnee National Forest for the logging industry, Graff said. If they need, they can work where it’s (the forest) has already been cut.

Since logging began, three protesters have been arrested, but no injuries have been reported.

No logging was completed on Saturday or Sunday.

I guess they (the loggers) let us have it (Cripps Bend) for the weekend, Jan Wilder-Thomas, a protester, said.

Thomas said she is not optimistic that Gilbert will rule in favor of the upcoming appeal.

Judge Gilbert has already demonstrated that he doesn’t care about the forest.

Stan Curtis, owner of Carbondale Veneer, said Sunday that he would not comment on the logging project until Monday.