HUGE NEWS: Sierra Club Helps Save Au Sable River!

GREAT news about the historic Au Sable River, one of the country's most productive trout streams.  From the Sierra Club's press release last week:

July 11, 2008

Contact:  Rusty Gates, 989-348-8462
       Marvin Roberson, 906-360-0288

Bay City Court Stops Proposed Drilling Near Mason Tract
Anglers, Sierra Club Joined Forces to Protect Prime Fishing Grounds

Anglers, hikers and canoeists will continue to enjoy the beauty and solitude of the Mason Tract along the Au Sable River in Michigan without the sights and sounds of oil and gas wells, thanks to a decision handed down by Bay City Federal District Court Judge David M. Lawson July 9.  The decision helps protect one of the finest trout fishing streams in the nation and is a major victory for the Anglers of the Au Sable, the Sierra Club and Tim Mason, a descendent of George Mason, who sued to stop proposed drilling on Forest Service land next to the Mason Tract in June 2005. 

“This long awaited decision confirms that the Forest Service under the Bush Administration has been far more interested in giving out permits than in protecting Michigan’s natural resources,” said Marvin Roberson, Sierra Club Forest Ecologist. “Clearly oil and gas drilling is more important to the Bush Administration than the solitude required by hunters, anglers and hikers in this spectacular area.”   

The court order overturns Forest Service approvals which would have allowed the Savoy Energy Company to clearcut and drill on National Forest lands adjacent to the Mason Tract and within earshot of the South Branch of the Au Sable River.  The Forest Service failed to adequately consider the environmental impacts and alternatives which would address those concerns.   The court also enjoined the Forest Service from engaging in any activities based upon the Forest Service’s flawed decision.

A federal magistrate issued a temporary restraining order in December 2005 in response to an emergency motion by the conservationists after they learned that Savoy Energy Company proposed to bulldoze the site.

The Mason Tract was established in 1955 when Tim Mason’s grandfather, George Mason, bequeathed a 1,500 acre parcel with eleven miles of frontage on the South Branch of the Au Sable River to the State of Michigan. George Mason’s gift was conditioned on maintaining the pristine condition of the Tract.  Today, the Mason Tract covers approximately 4,500 acres, but the oil and gas rights under the Tract were at least in part owned by the federal government and were leased by the Bureau of Land Management.  No drilling is allowed on the Mason Tract itself however oil and gas can be retrieved through the Forest Service land which abuts the Mason Tract.  Savoy Energy Company proposed to set up a drilling platform in an old growth portion of the South Branch Area of the Huron Manistee National Forest. The drilling platform would be near enough to impact the Mason Tract and the only two track trail that leads to the Mason Chapel within the Tract.

For more info on the Au Sable, go to this Michigan DNR webpage.