BLM is Back at it! Help Halt Thurston Hills Timber Sale
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FERC Votes 2-1 to Not Move Fracked Gas Pipeline Forward!
February 20, 2020 — On the heals of yesterday’s State of Oregon denial of yet another necessary permit for the Jordan Cove LNG Project, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) this morning voted 2-1 to delay the Trump administration’s approval process.
Jordan Cove Withdraws Removal Fill Application!
January 24, 2020 — Amidst enormous public opposition and just one week before the Department of State Lands (DSL) was set to make a decision on a critical Removal-Fill permit on the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline, Pembina has withdrawn their application to the agency.
Action Needed: Trump Attacks Bedrock Environmental Law
January 9, 2020 — the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released its blueprint to dismantle longstanding bedrock protections for communities, public lands, and wildlife. Designed to weaken the role of the public in service of extractive interests such as oil and gas companies, CEQ’s proposed rule is intended to empower federal agencies to advance the Trump administration’s reckless agenda against public lands and the climate.
Press Release: Oregon Supreme Court Affirms Sale of Elliott State Forest Tract Is Illegal
November 27, 2019 — The Oregon Supreme Court today ruled that the sale of 788 acres of forest from the Elliott State Forest was illegal. The ruling affirms an Oregon Court of Appeals’ ruling from 2018, which found that selling the area known as East Hakki Ridge to a private timber company in 2014 violated state law.
Cascadia Wildlands and Allies Challenge Enormous North Landscape Timber Sale
November 20, 2019 — Cascadia Wildlands, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Oregon Wild, and Soda Mountain Wilderness Council have filed suit to stop a 9,000-acre timber project in Southern Oregon that will allow logging in threatened spotted owl habitat contrary to federal laws. The project will occur next to the treasured Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, further degrading surrounding forests.
Umpqua Sweets Chronicles Vol 1: Down by the Riverside
by Gabriel Scott, In-House Counsel Is old growth clearcutting on public lands making a comeback on the North Umpqua River? Thus seems to say the BLM in its latest timber sale announcement, called “Umpqua Sweets.” While BLM’s official announcement is itself so vague and legalistic as to melt into nothing, recent groundtruthing of their proposed logging units … Read more
Legal Victory: Thurston Hills Timber Sale Defeated in Court
September 19, 2019 — On Wednesday, Judge Michael McShane ruled in a lawsuit filed by Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild, determining that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated federal laws when it approved clearcutting 100 acres of public land next to the city of Springfield. The court said that BLM’s environmental review failed to consider the fact that logging would increase fire hazard for nearby residents and failed to harmonize logging and recreation by buffering trails as required by BLM’s own rules.
Oregon Adopts Petition; Bans Trapping of Humboldt Martens!
September 16, 2019 — In response to a petition from conservation groups, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 4-3 late Friday to protect Humboldt martens from trapping. Fewer than 200 of the martens survive in the state’s coastal forests.
Legal Victory for Marbled Murrelets in Oregon!
August 7, 2019 — An Oregon judge has issued a decision concluding the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission violated Oregon law in denying a petition filed by five conservation groups demanding the commission uplist the murrelet from threatened to endangered under the Oregon Endangered Species Act.
Oregon Board of Forestry Grants Petition to Protect Coho Salmon from Private and State Logging
July 26, 2019 — Late Wednesday afternoon after hours of deliberation, the Oregon Board of Forestry voted 5-2 to accept a petition for rulemaking on coho salmon. The petition was brought by 22 different conservation and fishing groups under a rarely used portion of the Forest Practices Act which requires the Board to consider forest protections on private and state land when species are listed under state or federal endangered species acts. The Board is required to identify “resource sites” for listed species and subsequently develop rules to protect these species if threatened by state and private logging practices.
Legal Victory: Lower Grave Timber Sale Halted
Old-Growth Timber Sale Above Rogue River Deemed Illegal Federal Judge Finds BLM Failed to Consider Approach to Reducing Fire Threat On the evening of July 2, Oregon Federal District Judge Michael McShane issued a legal order effectively halting the “Lower Graves” old-growth timber sale proposed above the popular lower Rogue River in the Grants Pass … Read more
