A coalition of environmental and recreation groups and federal forest employees has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Erie alleging the U.S. Forest Service approved several oil and gas drilling projects that will damage sensitive animal habitat without doing required environmental reviews.

The lawsuit, filed yesterday by the Allegheny Defense Project, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, Tionesta Valley Snowmobile Club and Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, said the well drilling permits adjacent to the popular Rimrock Overlook and the Longhouse National Scenic Byway pose a threat to endangered or threatened species, including the northern flying squirrel, eastern box turtle, wood turtle, timber rattlesnake, cerulean warbler, great blue heron and northern goshawk.

Since the mid-1990s, oil and gas drilling in the Allegheny National Forest has increased significantly, from 100 new wells per year to nearly 1,500 new wells per year. In addition to the thousands of crude oil and gas wells, the 513,000-acre national forest has been fragmented by more than 2,000 miles of oil and gas roads built to provide access to drilling sites.