ASHEVILLE – A local coalition of environmental advocates filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and seven of its leaders, alleging that the federal agencies violated laws that require them to consider and disclose carbon impacts when developing timber targets. The plaintiffs are asking the court to halt a logging project in Nantahala National Forest, as part of their demands. …The lawsuit argues that the federal agencies and agents violated the National Environmental Policy Act, which they assert requires agencies to analyze and disclose direct, indirect and cumulative effects of their actions. …“Despite authorizing numerous timber projects each year to meet these targets, the Forest Service has never accounted for the aggregate carbon effects of actions taken to fulfill its timber targets,” the lawsuit reads.