RIMFOREST, Calif.—Several conservation groups filed an appeal to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors requesting an environmental review of the Church of the Woods Project in the San Bernardino Mountains, according to the Crestline Courier-News.

The San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, Sierra Club Mountains Group of the San Gorgonio Chapter, Save our Forest Association, and the Center for Biological Diversity challenged the Planning Commission's approval.

"We support the Church of the Woods congregation and their desire for a larger facility, but cannot allow the county to ignore the laws designed to protect public safety, quality of life, the environment and imperiled plants and animals," said Peter Jorris of the Audubon Society. "The County of San Bernardino must follow the law and fully disclose, analyze, and mitigate the project's impacts."

The Church of the Woods Project, located in Rimforest near Lake Arrowhead, includes a school for 860 students, temporary amphitheater, skate park and recreational facility, auditorium and ministry building, ball field, chapel, retreat and maintenance building.

The project is proposed for a dense grove of coniferous forest adjacent to the San Bernardino National Forest. Approval was based upon a "Mitigated Negative Declaration," a cursory level of environmental review allowed only for projects with no possibility of causing major environmental impacts.

The appeal seeks review and disclosure of issues related to air quality, traffic congestion, habitat for endangered and threatened species, land use, noise, aesthetics and the cumulative impact of all projects in the area, prior to any development at Rimforest.

"We support the congregation's decision to move to a new facility, but the county is violating the law by failing to prepare an Environmental Impact Report," said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity. "An Environmental Impact Report will lead to a safer and cleaner project proposal that is less damaging to wildlife and National Forest."

The appeal to the board of supervisors requests that the county require a full Environmental Impact Report before approving the project. The county initially requested an EIR for the project but, in a highly unusual move, changed its decision mid-way through the approval process.