The post Elliott State Forest Hike — August 19 first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Learn about the history of the Elliott State Forest.

The post Webinar: Elliott State Forest Update — Dec. 8 @ 5:30pm first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Last week we kicked off our summer as Cascadia Wildlands’ latest legal interns by attending oral arguments in the Oregon Supreme Court! It couldn’t have been better timing that we started our internships just as attorneys Dan Kruse and Nick Cady were putting the final touches on their Oregon Supreme Court oral argument in the Cascadia Wildlands vs. Oregon Dept. of State Lands (ODSL) lawsuit. This case concerns the ODSL’s sale of the 788-acre East Hakki Ridge parcel of the Elliott State Forest to Seneca Jones Timber Company, which plaintiffs argue is a clear violation of ORS 530.450, which prohibits the sale of the Elliott State Forest. While the ODSL and Seneca Jones (the Intervenor) have readily conceded that the sale violated the statute, they argue that the statute itself was entirely unconstitutional — an argument that Cascadia Wildlands asserts to be incorrect. Following the Appellate Court’s 2016 ruling in favor of the petitioners (Cascadia Wildlands, Audubon Society of Portland, Center for Biological Diversity, and Joshua Laughlin), the ODSL and Seneca Jones appealed to the state Supreme Court, which scheduled oral arguments for June 4, 2019.

We began by familiarizing ourselves with the Elliott State Forest timber sale in question and then accompanied Cascadia Wildlands’ attorneys to the Oregon Supreme Court. Observing and participating in the preparation for oral arguments allowed us to understand the legal mechanics required to construct a successful oral argument – a 30 minute conversation with a panel of judges champing at the bit to ask narrow hypothetical and big-picture questions, all to gain a deeper understanding of how to interpret the law.

After enjoying the visual distractions of 105-year-old courthouse, complete with a marble interior and an intricate stained-glass ceiling, the judges entered the courtroom and the focus turned to the center of the room. The ODSL began with its argument, splitting time with the attorney representing Seneca Jones. Dan Kruse followed, fielding the judge’s questions and challenges calmly and firmly, without skipping a beat. Though we are only first-year legal interns, anyone who heard Dan’s delivery would confidently agree that he rocked it.

Forest management in the United States is rife with problems, and while federal and state agencies have great ability to manage and remedy these challenges, action is not always set in motion properly. It is imperative that conservationists are able to find recourse in the courts, where the impartial judicial branch can enforce the duties of the legislature and executive branches regarding our public lands. As Jess and I watched the law interface with the state government and private industry, we are hopeful that the Court will right what Cascadia Wildlands believes to be a wrong. We are grateful for the opportunity to support Cascadia’s competent legal team and look forward to a fun and challenging experience with the organization. Admittedly, after week one, the expectations are quite high.

The post Cascadia Wildlands and Partners in Front of Oregon Supreme Court to Protect the Elliott State Forest first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contact:
Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands, (314) 482-3746, nick@old.cascwild.org
Quinn Read, Defenders of Wildlife, (206) 508-5474, qread@defenders.org
Jared Margolis, Center for Biological Diversity, (802) 310-4054, jmargolis@biologicaldiversity.org 
Joe Liebezeit, Audubon Society of Portland, (503) 329-6026 jliebezeit@audubonportland.org 
Danielle Moser, Oregon Wild, (503)-283-6343 x 226, dm@oregonwild.org

Agency Capitulates to Logging Industry, Ignores Science, Law, ODFW’s Mission

PORTLAND, Ore. — Five conservation groups filed a lawsuit today against the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Commission for failing to uplist the marbled murrelet from threatened to endangered under the Oregon Endangered Species Act.

The groups petitioned the ODFW Commission to uplist the marbled murrelet in 2016. The Commission voted 4-2 in February to accept the petition to uplist the seabird and instructed ODFW staff to begin development of mandatory species survival guidelines as required under Oregon law.

But the Commission caved to intense pressure from the logging industry at a June meeting, voting 4-2 to deny the petition it had accepted just four months earlier.

“The Commission’s reversal of its decision to uplist the marbled murrelet just four months earlier ignored science, the law and ODFW’s mission to protect Oregon’s imperiled wildlife,” said Nick Cady, legal director at Cascadia Wildlands. “The reversal demonstrates this Commission’s active neglect of its duties towards imperiled species, and disappointingly, leaves the marbled murrelet on a path toward extinction in Oregon.”

The marbled murrelet is a small seabird that nests in old-growth and mature forests and forages at sea. Its population has declined dramatically over the decades because of extensive logging in Oregon’s Coast Range. It was listed as threatened under the Oregon Endangered Species Act in 1995. However, Oregon has allowed intensive clearcut logging to continue in marbled murrelet habitat on lands owned and regulated by the state. Uplisting to “endangered” status would require the state to develop a management plan and survival guidelines, providing much needed protections for the species.

“Imperiled species like the marbled murrelet will continue to slide toward extinction if we turn our back on them in favor of industry interests,” said Jared Margolis, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Oregon needs to step up and protect the murrelet before it’s lost forever.”

In 2017, responding to the petition from conservation organizations, ODFW conducted a status review to assess the murrelet’s condition. The review demonstrated that murrelets need increased protection under the Oregon Endangered Species Act, due largely to loss of nesting habitat from ongoing clear-cut logging on lands managed by the state of Oregon.

“The ODFW Commission made exactly the right decision in February when it voted to uplist the marbled murrelet from threatened to endangered based on its own staff’s status report and hours of testimony from experts,” said Quinn Read, Northwest director at Defenders of Wildlife. “The law clearly requires the Commission to base its decision on science, but instead in June, the Commissioners continued a pattern of playing politics with the state’s most imperiled wildlife species.”

The status review provided copious evidence from multiple peer-reviewed studies that murrelets are in trouble in Oregon. The best available science predicts the extinction probability at 80 percent by 2060 along Oregon’s central and north coasts and 80 percent by 2100 along Oregon’s south coast. California and Washington have already classified murrelets as endangered, highlighting the bird’s dire status in those neighboring states.

“The science is clear and overwhelming,” said Joe Liebezeit, staff scientist at Audubon Society of Portland. “The June Commission decision unfortunately perpetuates an approach at ODFW that has spanned nearly three decades of the state turning its back on the murrelet and ignoring the science that shows that logging of our older coastal forests under the purview of the state of Oregon is a primary factor driving this species toward extinction.”

The lawsuit includes four claims. First, the ODFW Commission failed to base its decision upon documented and verifiable science. Second, the Commission failed to adequately explain its decision to reverse its prior decision to uplist. Next, the decision not to uplist is not supported by substantial evidence in the record. Finally, the Commission failed to provide adequate notice to the public or the petitioners to weigh in on its decision to reverse the uplisting in June.

The ODFW Commission will meet on Aug. 3 to consider survival guidelines for timber companies to help conserve marbled murrelets — guidelines that have no force of law and would be voluntary. Those guidelines would have been mandatory had the species been uplisted.

Trying to silence the public concerned about its surprise June decision, the Commission initially announced that it would accept no public testimony at the August hearing and turned down multiple request for public testimony. It only agreed to allow public testimony after conservation groups found an existing rule that requires the Commission to allow public testimony when at least 10 people or an organization representing at least 10 people request a hearing.

“This entire process has demonstrated a remarkable level of disrespect for the public and public process,” said Danielle Moser, Wildlife Program Coordinator for Oregon Wild. “The ODFW Commission failed to announce that it would be considering reversing its previous decision to uplist the murrelet, and instead, has done everything possible to squelch public input. It speaks to the urgent need for Governor Brown to appoint Commissioners who are committed to protecting Oregon’s native fish and wildlife, not beholden to special interest industries. This Friday, the ODFW Commission has a chance to fix the huge mistake it created in June by adopting mandatory survival guidelines. Oregon Wild and our members will be there, reminding the Commission of its mission to protect the state’s wildlife.”

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The conservation groups in this case are represented by attorneys from Cascadia Wildlands and Center for Biological Diversity.

The post Press Release: Lawsuit Filed Challenging Oregon’s Failure to Protect Murrelets first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contact:  
Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands, (314) 482-3746
Noah Greenwald, Center for Biological Diversity, (503) 484-7495
Bob Sallinger, Portland Audubon, (503) 380-9728

Court Halts Logging of Elliott State Forest Tract Sold to Timber Company

 Old-Growth Clearcutting Stopped to Protect Threatened Marbled Murrelets

The post Court Halts Logging of Elliott State Forest Tract Sold to Timber Company first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

The Oregon State Land Board moves ahead with the decision to sell the Elliott to a buyer, public or private, that will agree to conservation and job creation mandates. The goal of the sale is to sever the ties between the forest and the Common School Fund, which provides money for K-12 school children. While any potential new owner of the Elliott must show that it will maintain 50% of the forest open for public access, there is no guarantee of what that will entail.

Cascadia Wildlands continues to look for a creative solution that fulfills the Common School Fund obligations and maintains this magical coastal rainforest in public ownership and open to all to enjoy.

In the meantime, we want to get you out to explore the Elliott with us. Stay tuned for more details, but be sure to put June 18, 2016 on your calendar to join us in the Elliott State Forest.

The post Explore the Elliott State Forest with Cascadia Wildlands first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.