January 23, 1998

James Ramey, District Ranger

Bankhead National Forest

P.O. Box 278

Double Springs, Alabama 35553

Re: Freedom of Information Act Request

Via: Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested

Dear Mr. Ramey:

On behalf of Wild Alabama, a non-profit organization, I am submitting this request under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552. The requests in this letter deal with information about your office's proposals to conduct the following timber sales: "Compartment 128, Stand 4 and 40 in Compartment 140, Stand 18 in Compartment 20 and Stand 35 in Compartment 127;" Compartments 139 and 153," and "Compartment 91."

If you do not have any documents that respond to a particular request, please state so in your response to this letter. Please provide, within the time required by law, the following records:

(1) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring of any resources on any and all of the compartments in the above proposed timber sales.

(2) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring done BEFORE each timber sale conducted in the Bankhead in the last six years.

(3) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring done AFTER each timber sale conducted in the Bankhead in the last six years.

(4) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning data and any other information on even-aged management and selective-aged management and any comparison between the various methods of even-aged and selective-aged management methods in the Bankhead.

(5) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring of soils in any and all of the compartments in the above proposed timber sales, including any inventorying or monitoring of the organic content of soils.

(6) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring of endangered and threatened species listed under the Endangered Species Act in any and all of the compartments or stands in the above proposed timber sales.

(7) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring of sensitive species in any and all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales.

(8) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring of management indicator species (MIS), state-listed species, rare species and species considered to be rare by experts in any and all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales.

(9) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring of mammals in any and all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales.

(10) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring of birds, including migratory song birds, in any and all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales.

(11) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring of reptiles in any and all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales.

(12) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring of amphibians in any and all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales.

(13) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring of fishes in or downstream of any and all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales.

(14) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring of aquatic snails or mussels in or downstream of any and all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales.

(15) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring of trees, tree types, tree stands, and basal area in any and all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales.

(16) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring of plants, other than trees, in any and all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales.

(17) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring involving chemical parameters in the water of streams originating in or flowing through any and all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales. This request includes any and all documents involving total suspended solids, total nitrogen and total phosphorous in these waters.

(18) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring the pH and/or water temperature of all streams flowing from or downstream of any and all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales, including the time of year the measurements were taken, and any other data comparing the pH and/or water temperature measurements in similar streams not flowing from or downstream of cut areas.

(19) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring involving water's physical parameters, including temperature of all streams flowing from or downstream of all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales and measurements of siltation and/or sedimentation in any streams in or below any and all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales.

(20) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning inventorying and monitoring involving channel shifts due to sediment loading, i.e., changes in the depth and width of streams downstream of timber cuts and of how much siltation or sedimentation is getting into the water in or below any and all of the compartments and stands in the above proposed timber sales..

(21) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents for the last six years involving, describing or mentioning the effectiveness of any and all mitigation measures applied to prior timber cuts in any and all of the compartments in the above proposed timber sales, including any studies that outline, describe or access in any way the effectiveness of any mitigation measures.

(22) Any and all records, reports, letters, correspondence, notes, receipts, maps, photographs, video tapes, computer records or files, electronic mail (e-mail), telephone logs, message notes, and all other documents involving, describing or mentioning the cumulative impacts from the Forest Service timber cutting and road building and maintenance actions in the above compartments and the compartments around them and how inventorying and monitoring is done on those cumulative impacts.

We further request that any fees associated with this request be waived because disclosure of the records is "likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester." 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii). This request satisfies all of the requirements for a fee waiver.

This request is in the public interest and is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government, as the inventorying and monitoring of National Forest resources is a critical component of protecting, enhancing and managing the public's property. This request is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester, as the requesters have NO commercial interest whatsoever in these materials. The subject of the request obviously concerns "the operations or activities of the government," as the inventorying and monitoring is a legal requirement for the Forest Service in every forest and every district. The informative value of the information to be disclosed is very high, since whether the Forest Service does a proper job of inventorying or monitoring is the keystone part of whether the resources are being preserved and information on inventorying and monitoring is essential to an understanding of government operations or activities in maintaining the health of the National forests, especially in whether these proposed sales are being properly planned and implemented. The contribution to an understanding of the subject by the general public likely to result from disclosure of these records will be very high, because whether the Forest Service is doing adequate inventorying and monitoring contributes to "public understanding" of how well the public's National Forests are being managed. The significance of the contribution of these materials to the public understanding will be great, because the disclosure is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding due to the fact that neither the Forest Service nor anyone else currently makes known the extent and quality of inventorying and monitoring to the public. The requesters have absolutely no commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure.

Wild Alabama is a non-profit group organized under the non-profit laws of Alabama and dedicated to enjoying and protecting the streams and rivers, forests, beaches, wetlands and other wildlands of Alabama. Wild Alabama intends to use the requested information in preparing educational material for the public on how the Forest Service conducts inventorying and monitoring in the Bankhead National Forest and for use in its role and participation in the ongoing LRMP Revision process and in commenting on these proposed sales. Wild Alabama is also coordinating with numerous other organizations to improve the protection given to public lands administered by the Forest Service in Alabama and in the Bankhead in particular. Wild Alabama also intends to disseminate the requested information, free of charge, to all other persons and organizations that wish to learn about public lands administered by the Forest Service in Alabama and that wish to participate in the LRMP Revision process and in these proposed sales and how inventorying and monitoring on such public lands works.

Wild Alabama has no commercial interest in the records sought. Its interest lies in using the requested information to advance its members' own understanding, as well as that of other members of the public, into the activities of the Forest Service regarding public lands. Wild Alabama and WildLaw will also disseminate this information on their Web sites and through Wild Alabama's highly acclaimed magazine, which has a distribution of over 14,000 throughout Alabama and other southeastern states.

If you anticipate any delay in processing this request or if you foresee any problem relating to our request for a fee waiver, please notify me as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Ray Vaughan

Attorney for Wild Alabama