Conservationists say a $4.2 million plan to widen
Steed Creek Road, a lightly traveled route through the Francis Marion
National Forest, is a wasteful project that will increase traffic through
an area with endangered woodpeckers and rare wildflowers.
If the federal government doesn't change its plans, the Southern
Environmental Law Center and the South Carolina Native Plant Society plan
to sue, arguing that widening Steed Creek Road violates the Endangered
Species Act.
Steed Creek Road is the more commonly used name for S.C. Highway 133,
which winds for 12.5 miles through the forest from Huger to U.S. Highway
17 in Awendaw. Along its path are red-cockaded woodpeckers, an endangered
species, and clusters of wild orchids.
The Federal Highway Administration wants to widen the two-lane road
from 20 feet to 28 feet with another 8 feet of vegetated shoulders. The
agency said this work would make the road safer for large vehicles,
bicyclists and other motorists.
Conservationists say the project is a boondoggle. About 700 to 900
vehicles use the highway every day, according to state Transportation
Department figures. One of every five is a commercial truck.
"We need to spend our money where it's needed, like (U.S.) Highway 17
toward Beaufort, where people are dying every day," said Jane Lareau of
the Coastal Conservation League.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service studied the widening project's
potential effects and determined that it posed little or no threat to the
red-cockaded woodpecker and other plants and animals.
Conservationists disagree, arguing that the project will encourage
motorists and truckers to cut through the forest. This, in turn, will make
it more difficult for the U.S. Forest Service to do controlled burns.
 |
| SOURCE:
U.S. FOREST SERVICE - GILL GUERRY/STAFF |
Private land in national forest
The
Federal Highway Administration wants to widen two-lane Steed
Creek Road to make it safer, but conservationists are
concerned about the plan. The Francis Marion National Forest
includes parcels owned by the U.S. Forest Service and tracts
held by private owners.
| |
Without frequent and regular controlled burns, longleaf forests will
decline, along with the mals and plants that depend on them, said John
Brubaker, president of the S.C. Native Plant Society.
Conservationists also say the Fish and Wildlife Service mistakenly
treated the project as if it were passing through private land. That's
important because private property owners have fewer restrictions under
the Endangered Species Act.
However, most of Steed Creek Road runs through public land, which must
be managed in ways that help endangered species recover, said J. Blanding
Holman IV of the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Fish and Wildlife's approach sets a dangerous precedent, Holman said.
"They've used a weakened standard that will undercut the species
nationwide. We aim to put things back on track."
His group and the Plant Society sent a letter last week to federal
agencies warning that they would file a federal lawsuit in 60 days if the
agencies fail to address their concerns.
Officials with the Federal Highway Administration in Columbia had not
seen the letter and declined to comment Tuesday.