The Five Buttes Project (Crescent Ranger District, Deschutes National Forest)
The Five Buttes Project is on the Crescent Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest and proposes to log 14.4 million board feet of timber from 4,235 acres of public lands in the name of fire risk reduction and forest health. The timber sale will degrade more than 2,000 acres of currently suitable late-successional habitat for five decades or more.
The Cascadia Wildlands Project administratively appealed the portions of the logging project that targeted the oldest and most ecologically rich and vibrant forests in the area. When the Forest Service denied our appeal, we challenged the Five Buttes Project in the Federal District Court of Oregon, along with our co-plaintiffs the Sierra Club and the Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project. Plaintiffs are represented by the CWP’s Legal Director, Dan Kruse, as well as Ann Kneeland from Eugene, and Ralph Bloemers and Chris Winter from the CRAG Law Office in Portland.
The primary issues raised in the lawsuit are: (1) that the Forest Service is violating the Northwest Forest Plan by logging mature and old-growth trees from within an Old-Growth Reserve for the purpose of “forest health” without first establishing that such severe action is necessary and not ultimately harmful; (2) that the Forest Service is violating NEPA by failing to consider and disclose scientific information that refutes and counsels against the proposed actions; and (3) that the Forest Service is violating NEPA by failing to consider and disclose the cumulative impacts of the proposed action.
Update 9.15.08
On September 15, US District Court Judge Michael Hogan in Eugene enjoined this timber sale from proceeding citing unlawful forest practices in an old-growth reserve. The Deschutes National Forest had sought to aggressively log in the Davis Lake Late Successional Reserve allegedly to reduce the risk of wildfire, but in reality, the agency was permitting logging mature and old-growth forests. Ironically, these are the trees most resistant to wildfire due to their resilience and thick bark. The Forest Service's own analysis acknowledged the logging would reduce the suitability of northern spotted owl habitat in the reserve for up to 50 years.
Legal documents include:
1. Administrative appeal
2. Complaint
3. Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction
4. Plaintiffs’ memorandum in support of preliminary injunction
5. Declaration of Chad Hansen
6. Defendants’ response to motion for preliminary injunction
7. Intervenors’ response to motion for preliminary injunction
8. Plaintiffs’ reply to defendants’ and intervenors’ response
9. Motion for summary judgement opinion
