May 28, 2024 — In response to a challenge brought by conservation organizations, on Friday a federal district court found that the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) violated the law with its “Integrated Vegetation Management” (IVM) program, which proposed aggressive logging in forest areas set aside for forest conservation.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 27, 2024
Medford Oregon —Today a coalition of conservation organizations again filed a legal complaint challenging the Medford District Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) efforts to aggressively log forest stands located outside of Gold Hill, Oregon. The Rogue Gold Forest Management Project (“Rogue Gold”) authorizes heavy commercial logging within Late Successional Reserves, areas expressly set aside for old forest conservation. The BLM is targeting mature and old-growth forests that are fire-resilient and provide important habitat for at-risk wildlife species. BLM admits that the purpose of the heavier logging prescriptions being authorized is the generation of commercial timber volume despite locating these logging activities within areas set aside for conservation, called Late Successional Reserves.
