Justice for South Red Bird – Fund our Appeal to the Court!

Hello friends and supporters of Kentucky Heartwood!

In September of 2022, Kentucky Heartwood filed a lawsuit challenging the Forest Service’s South Red Bird Wildlife Habitat Enhancement Project, impacting 3,800 acres of the Daniel Boone National Forest. At the time of filing, this was the largest timber project proposed on the Boone in almost 20 years.

The lawsuit focused on the Forest Service’s violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), and the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) as well as the use of misleading data to support logging plans.

In early June of 2024, Kentucky Heartwood filed a motion for a preliminary injunction that would require the Forest Service to pause any further sales, logging, and other project-related activities in the project area. Also, in early June, both the Forest Service and Kentucky Heartwood filed motions before the Court, arguing that the Court should issue an order resolving the case or portions of the case in their favor. Despite ongoing litigation and our request for a preliminary injunction, the Forest Service continued to authorize timber sales in the project area. Logging in the Bear Creek sale was completed in early 2024, and several other sales were advertised for bidding.

In April of 2025, the Court issued Orders on Motions for Summary Judgment, Preliminary Injunction, Additional Discovery, and Record Issues. All were denied. However, the judge directed the Forest Service to provide additional materials by May 31, 2025, explaining their rationale for continuing the project despite supplemental information from KY Heartwood.

In August of 2025, Kentucky Heartwood was notified that all pre-decisional claims regarding NEPA and ESA were denied. In short, Kentucky Heartwood lost its remaining claims; the Forest Service prevailed on all issues, and the South Red Bird Project stands as planned.

After receiving notice from the court, we met with our legal counsel and they offered options for Kentucky Heartwood moving forward. Despite the case being struck from the docket, we still have the opportunity to appeal. Led by our attorneys, we plan to file an appeal and see this process down to the bitter end.

Kentucky Heartwood is asking you to offer financial support to guide us through this appeal process. We have exhausted our budget for this case, and to continue, we are looking at additional costs beyond what we have planned. This is where YOU come in!

With your support, we will continue to fight for justice for South Red Bird and all projects like it in the future. By seeing this appeal through, we have the opportunity to set a precedent with the court that could change outcomes for future lawsuits by Kentucky Heartwood or other environmental organizations like ours.

This has been a long and wild ride and we refuse back away quietly.

If you cannot donate financially, please share this fundraiser with your friends on social media. If you would like to visit this special forest, join us for our Field Trip and Solidarity Hike on Saturday November 1st. RSVP to attend this hike here!

*UPDATE*
As of October 18th, 2025, logging operations in Little Flat Creek have begun. Staff Outreach Coordinator, Whitney Hamblin, visited the site on 10/18 to discover the skid roads and staging zones are being constructed along sections 16-18 of the Red Bird Crest Trail. This field trip and solidarity walk is your opportunity to witness active logging in the National Forest.