Southern Environmental Law Center—A gate blocks the entrance and an ‘area closed’ sign threatens potential trespassers with fines or prison. The warnings come as centuries-old trees are being cut down and put on the back of logging trucks, making Brushy Mountain yet another point of conflict in the fight to save the nation’s oldest forests.
“For years, SELC and our partners have warned the Forest Service about the irreversible damage logging here will do to this ecosystem, rare animals, and the climate,” said Patrick Hunter, Managing Attorney of SELC’s Asheville Office. “The agency has continually ignored those significant concerns and is instead plowing ahead with a reckless project that puts this exceptionally important place on the chopping block.”
So why is the Forest Service logging an area with centuries-old ecosystems and habitat for rare animals? Williams, a former Forest Service employee himself, says it comes down to one thing. “It’s all about timber targets.”