Appeals panel sides with agency on Alaska timber project

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – A divided federal appeals court panel has ruled that the U.S. Forest Service “chose jobs over wolves” in approving a logging project in southeast Alaska but was within its authority to do so.
The decision is in response to lawsuits by conservation groups that challenged the Big Thorne project on Prince of Wales Island and cited concerns about the impact on the Alexander Archipelago wolf. It upholds a lower court ruling.
The majority opinion from the 9th U.