ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Environmental advocates are fighting a federal plan that increases logging operations in two U.S. forests in North Carolina. 

MountainTrue, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife filed a lawsuit last week against the U.S. Forest Service. It takes aim at the 2023 revised land and resource management plan for the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests.

They say the revised plan unnecessarily increases logging activities, violates several federal laws and could harm critical habitats for wildlife. The groups cited the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Forest Management Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. 

Logging levels need to be reconsidered after Helene took down thousands of trees in September 2024, they said.

“By the agency’s own estimates, the storm’s fierce winds and flooding damaged or destroyed vegetation on approximately 117,000 acres across the Forests,” the lawsuit states. “By felling so many trees, the storm created tens of thousands of acres of early successional habitat on the Forests, obviating the need to create high levels of that same habitat via commercial logging.”

The 2023 Forest Plan aims to expand the area designated for timber production by 81,000 acres and quintuple the current annual regeneration logging levels, the lawsuit states. Additionally, the plan increases objectives for forest thinning by ten times the current levels, leading to more extensive logging activities across the forests. 

The groups say this will open up sensitive biological areas, old-growth forests and backcountry areas to logging without adequate protections.

The lawsuit also highlights the potential harmful impacts on wildlife and ecosystems.

The plan’s objectives for logging will create a harmful imbalance in habitats for disturbance-sensitive animals and plants, including endangered species like the northern long-eared bat and Carolina northern flying squirrel, the groups said.

The expanded footprint of logging is expected to impact more portions of the forest that are currently intact and have rare or exemplary conservation values, the groups added.

Advocates claim that the Forest Service took procedural shortcuts and failed to disclose information about the adverse effects of the plan to the public. 

The Forest Service’s analysis emphasized the benefits of logging while downplaying its adverse effects and risks, the lawsuit states. 

The groups also express concern over a recent executive order by President Donald Trump, which seeks to increase logging on national forest lands and reduce opportunities for public comment and participation in logging decisions. 

They argue that this order further undermines the public’s ability to mitigate the harm from the 2023 Forest Plan.

For the latest breaking news, weather and traffic alerts that impact you from WCNC Charlotte, download the WCNC Charlotte mobile app and enable push notifications.