March 23, 2021 — Conservation groups in the Pacific Northwest filed a legal challenge to reinstate federal protections on more than 3.4 million acres of federal old-growth forests, which are essential for the survival of the threatened northern spotted owl. The lawsuit asks the court to reject a rule issued in the last days of the Trump administration that eliminated one-third of the critical habitat protections for the species. The nonprofit law firms Earthjustice and Western Environmental Law Center represent Audubon Society of Portland, Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Northwest, Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Oregon Wild, Sierra Club and The Wilderness Society in the lawsuit.
Celebrating the Historic Confirmation of Secretary Haaland
March 16, 2021 — Oregon’s conservation community is celebrating the historic bipartisan confirmation of Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Indigenous person to serve as a Cabinet member. Secretary Haaland’s leadership of the Department of the Interior is especially significant in light of the Department and the agencies it oversees’ historic and ongoing role in the systematic oppression and displacement of Native American communities since its creation 150 years ago. She enters the role at a time of unprecedented and urgent need for action on a host of environmental crises impacting public lands, from climate change to mass wildlife extinctions to fossil fuel extraction and ongoing irresponsible old growth logging.
Federal Government Rejects Request to Overturn Oregon’s Denial of LNG Project
February 8, 2020 — The proposed Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and fracked gas pipeline faced another massive blow today when the US Secretary of Commerce rejected a request to override the State of Oregon’s February 2020 denial of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) federal consistency review. This project cannot begin construction without approval of the CZMA federal consistency review. This is another enormous victory for communities across the region who have been fighting this project for over 15 years.
Victory for Eugene Climate Goals!
February 9, 2021 — After three months of public pressure and countless hours of public testimony about the climate and health impacts of fracked gas, the City’s franchise negotiations with NW Natural last night hit an impasse. Members of the Fossil Free Eugene campaign hailed this new development as a victory, as the franchise agreement being discussed was set to lock the city into a ten-year contract in which the fracked gas corporation could use the City’s right of way to expand its infrastructure and capacity without restriction.
Wild and Scenic River Legislation Introduced
February 4, 2021 — On February 3, Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley introduced the River Democracy Act, which will add 4,700 river miles in Oregon into the Wild and Scenic Rivers system. The proposal will permanently protect waterways across the state, from tributaries of the Snake River in northeast Oregon to unprotected creeks in the Siskiyou Mountains in southwest Oregon and dozens within the Oregon Coast Range and Cascade Mountains.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Upholds Oregon’s Denial of Key Jordan Cove LNG Permit
January 19, 2021 — Today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) upheld the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s denial of a key permit for the proposed Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline. The Jordan Cove LNG project cannot move forward without a Clean Water Act approval from the state of Oregon.
Western Wolf Coalition Challenges Nationwide Wolf Delisting
January 14, 2021 — The most recent data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its state partners show an estimated 4,400 wolves inhabit the western Great Lakes states, but only 108 wolves in Washington state (with only 20 outside of eastern Washington), 158 in Oregon (with only 16 outside of northeastern Oregon), and a scant 15 exist in California. Nevada, Utah, and Colorado have had a few wolf sightings over the past three years, but wolves remain functionally absent from their historical habitat in these states.
USFWS cuts northern spotted owl critical habitat by 42% in likely death sentence for species
January 13, 2021 — Today, with six days remaining in the Trump administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a final rule eliminating 3.4 million acres of critical habitat for the northern spotted owl in Washington state, Oregon, and California. This decision comes one month after the Service announced that the species should be uplisted from threatened to endangered, but the agency is too busy to provide these desperately needed protections. The elimination of 42% of the endangered species’ critical habitat would likely result in extinction for the northern spotted owl in the U.S. This final rule results from a sweetheart settlement between the Trump administration and the timber industry.
USFWS: Northern spotted owls are endangered, but we’re too busy to help
December 14, 2020 — Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a finding on the northern spotted owl’s listing status, spurred by a lawsuit filed last week by wildlife advocates. The finding states “reclassification of the northern spotted owl from a threatened species to an endangered species is warranted but precluded by higher priority actions to amend the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. We will develop a proposed rule to reclassify the northern spotted owl as our priorities allow.”
Lawsuit Filed to Protect Imperiled Wolverine
December 14, 2020 — Today, a coalition of wildlife advocates challenged the Trump Fish and Wildlife Service’s (the Service’s) decision to deny protections to imperiled wolverines under the Endangered Species Act. This is the second time the Service has prioritized politics over science for wolverines, which number about 300 in the contiguous U.S.