NASF joins forest roads Brandeis Brief

This afternoon,NASF joined the Society of American Foresters, Association of Consulting Foresters, and many scientists in the academic community in filing a Brandeis Brief with the United States Supreme Court.  The brief provides facts to inform the Court as it prepares to review a May 2011 decision in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determining forest roads used for timber harvest are “point sources” requiring special industrial discharge permits under the Clean Water Act.

“We join many others in the forestry community in encouraging the Supreme Court to reject the Ninth Circuit decision as it ignores nearly 40 years of successful treatment of forestry activities and forest roads as non-point sources best addressed through BMPs,” said WV State Forester and NASF President Randy Dye. “Based on state foresters’ experiences delivering BMP programs, we believe that a national requirement to issue permits for forestry activities will not measurably improve water quality.”

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