Environmental organization Earthjustice announced last Friday groups it is representing in a trio of lawsuits opposed to U.S. Forest Service’s Big Thorne timber sale have filed two notices of appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, following the dismissal of their suits by a federal judge in a March 20 ruling.

The Big Thorne sale involves the harvest of around 6,200 acres of forest on Prince of Wales Island and includes the clearcut of old-growth rainforest. Klawock-based mill Viking Lumber was awarded a contract last September to harvest and process the majority.

Among their comp...