The Ashley National Forest Aspen Restoration Project which had been approved in October 2023 has been halted. In a letter signed this month by Kristy Groves, the new Ashley National Forest Supervisor, it says her decision to withdraw the project is effective immediately.
The Project aimed to utilize prescribed burning and other methods to restore aspen stands on approximately 177,706 acres of forest. The scoping process of the project began in 2019 and ran through 2022 with an official approval given on the project last fall.
The Center for Biological Diversity took credit for the Forest Service’s decision to halt the project in a press release on July 5th, stating that the decision was in response to a lawsuit by conservation groups. They declared this as a big win in their mission to prevent logging and burns within the forest.
