EDDYVILLE -- A Kentucky paper company began thinning stands of pine trees in the Bell Smith Springs natural area of the Shawnee National Forest on Tuesday.

Crews from Westvaco entered the site unhindered, forest officials said, despite promises from environmentalists that they would try to stop the loggers.

Activists had previously planned a rally and demonstration on Saturday. Joe Glisson, who is suing the U.S. Forest Service over the timber cut, said further protests were planned but that he did not know the details.

Forest managers say the timber cut is needed to remove pine trees that aren't native to the forest so that indigenous hardwood saplings can grow. Environmentalists call the cut unnecessary and a threat to endangered species.

In addition to Westvaco, Golconda timberman Glenn Hobbs also has a Forest Service contract for Bell Smith Springs trees. He had not begun logging as of Tuesday, despite completion of paperwork and a 1/2 mile path connecting the cut site with a nearby gravel road.

Westvaco is expected to remain in Bell Smith Springs for up to three years of sporadic logging, said Becky Banker, a Forest Service spokeswoman. Hobbs' plans are unclear, she said.

"We have not heard from him," she said. "Mr. Hobbs could go in at any time. It's his decision."

Ms. Banker said Forest Service police force were working with Pope County authorities to make sure environmental activists do not interfere with the cut.

"What it all boils down to for us is that we feel a very strong responsibility and an obligation to provide a safe working environment not only for our employees but for the general public, which includes the logger," she said.

Environmentalists have worked to disrupt previous cuts by interfering with loggers and holding protests near cut sites. Police arrested seven people during protests to stop cutting in the Cripps Bend area near Pomona in 1995, the last major cut in the Shawnee National Forest.

Glisson on Friday filed a motion asking that the timber sale be stopped pending a federal appeals court decision on his lawsuit claiming that the cut is environmentally unsound.