I learned from our attorney on Friday that the Southern District of Illinois federal court had granted our motion for oral arguments in regard to the motion filed by the U.S. Forest Service to lift the injunction against commercial logging, oil and gas leasing, and off-road vehicles which is currently in effect on the Shawnee as the outcome of a lawsuit that we filed in the 1990s.

The Forest Service doesn't really want these oral arguments, and had not supported them. Obviously, they wanted the judge to lift the injunction based on the brief they had filed. The problem is, their brief was less than forthcoming about reality. The hearing is set for Feb. 16, in Benton, Illinois. Stay tuned for more.