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MINTURN — A Minturn attorney is trying to stop the U.S. Forest Service's logging operation near Minturn because he said the Forest Service is violating the project's plans.
The project, part of the Upper Eagle River Beetle Salvage Project, was approved in May 2008 after an environmental impact study was completed.
Michael Heaphy followed the environmental study and said he's familiar with the plans for logging the beetle-killed pine trees from the area near the Grouse Lake trail. As Heaphy walked his dog along the trail Thursday, he said he clearly saw violations.
“From my perspective, from what I'm seeing and observing, the Forest Service is essentially doing things it never said it would do,” Heaphy said.
Heaphy is requesting the court order an injunction, which would temporarily shut down the project until the court can either verify or disprove Heaphy's claims.
Scott Fitzwilliams, the forest supervisor for the White River National Forest, said everything is going as it should under the project plan. He said Heaphy's claims are misguided.
“There are standards we don't budge from,” Fitzwilliams said. “We take timber theft, timber-cutting outside of boundaries, very seriously.”
Heaphy said he could see that logging was happening on the wrong side of the Grouse Lake trail. He said the trail is
The project, part of the Upper Eagle River Beetle Salvage Project, was approved in May 2008 after an environmental impact study was completed.
Michael Heaphy followed the environmental study and said he's familiar with the plans for logging the beetle-killed pine trees from the area near the Grouse Lake trail. As Heaphy walked his dog along the trail Thursday, he said he clearly saw violations.
“From my perspective, from what I'm seeing and observing, the Forest Service is essentially doing things it never said it would do,” Heaphy said.
Heaphy is requesting the court order an injunction, which would temporarily shut down the project until the court can either verify or disprove Heaphy's claims.
Scott Fitzwilliams, the forest supervisor for the White River National Forest, said everything is going as it should under the project plan. He said Heaphy's claims are misguided.
“There are standards we don't budge from,” Fitzwilliams said. “We take timber theft, timber-cutting outside of boundaries, very seriously.”
Heaphy said he could see that logging was happening on the wrong side of the Grouse Lake trail. He said the trail is
