Contact:    
Nick Cady, Legal Director, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463          
Noah Greenwald, Center for Biological Diversity
Quinn Read, Bird Alliance of Oregon

Clearcutting plans halted to protect threatened seabird within former Elliott State Forest parcel

Eugene, OR — Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a 2022 ruling from the District Court of Oregon that prevents Scott Timber Co. from clearcutting old-growth forest within Oregon’s Elliott State Forest. The court held that the proposed logging of the 355-acre Benson Ridge parcel by the subsidiary of Roseburg Forest Products would harm threatened marbled murrelets in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act. The case marks the first time a private timber company has been held to account in court for potential violations of the federal Endangered Species Act in Oregon.

“After a decade of advocacy, the rare old-growth in Benson Ridge is at last protected from private industry chainsaws,” said Nick Cady, legal director at Cascadia Wildlands. “This ruling is significant for the imperiled marbled murrelet and will hopefully dissuade land managers from logging the little remaining coastal old-growth forest in the state.”

The 82,000-acre Elliott State Forest, located near Coos Bay, has been mired in controversy for over a decade. In 2012, following a decision by the state of Oregon to significantly increase logging levels on the Elliott, Cascadia Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity and Bird Alliance of Oregon (formerly Portland Audubon) sued the state for illegally logging occupied marbled murrelet habitat on the Elliott and other state forests. After a judge issued a legal injunction, the state settled the suit in 2014, agreeing to drop 26 timber sales and stop logging in occupied murrelet habitat.

Following the settlement, however, the state sold the Benson Ridge parcel and two other tracts, totaling 1,453 acres, even though they contained mature and old-growth forests that were occupied by imperiled marbled murrelets. Prior to the finalization of the sales, the timber purchasers were specifically warned by the three conservation organizations that logging these forests would violate the federal Endangered Species Act. The state finalized the sales regardless.

“I’m absolutely thrilled that the marbled murrelets of Benson Ridge are safe from logging,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This court victory makes it clear that timber companies are no more exempt from ending the extinction crisis that plagues these enduring seabirds than the rest of us.”

The Benson Ridge case was originally filed in August 2016 claiming violations of the federal Endangered Species Act, which strictly prohibits “take” (statutorily defined as including harm, harassment or killing) of threatened species like the marbled murrelet. Unlike any other seabird, murrelets nest on the wide, mossy branches of large, old-growth trees, making a daily trip of up to 35 miles inland to bring fish to their young.

“This entire Elliott State Forest saga demonstrates the incredible cynicism that underpins the treatment of mature and old-growth forests in Oregon,” said Bird Alliance of Oregon conservation director, Quinn Read. “Land managers, both public and private, continue to try to convert these rare old forests into timber plantations. This is not only ecologically devastating but illegal.”

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court holding stating: “…the Benson Tract is occupied and used for nesting by marbled murrelets, the logging operation would eliminate 49 acres of this occupied habitat, and the clearcut would remove nests and prevent returning murrelets from nesting or engaging in other breeding-related activities there…” and noted how the District Court explained  “the timber harvest would directly fragment a continuous stand of occupied forest and, using scientific studies, [demonstrated] how this fragmentation would foreseeably and negatively impact the murrelets’ breeding behaviors.” Opinion at 25.

“This case exemplifies the vital importance of citizen suits in our fight to save the planet. The State of Oregon knew the Marbled Murrelet used this land, but sold it anyways to be clearcut. The Federal Government knew the Marbled Murrelet used the Benson Ridge tract for nesting and reproduction, yet took no action to stop Scott Timber Company’s logging plans. Only through the decades-long effort of these public interest organizations was this land and its nesting Marbled Murrelets protected – in perpetuity – from devastation. Moving forward, timber companies should pay close attention to the existence of Marbled Murrelets on their property, as we certainly will be,” said Daniel Synder of Public Justice.

In addition to winning the Benson Ridge case, the organizations successfully legally challenged the other Elliott privatization efforts with a separate lawsuit.

In recent years, a diversity of stakeholders have successfully worked to “decouple” the Elliott State Forest from the Common School Fund through a series of legislative appropriations and transition it into the Elliott State Research Forest. No longer is there an obligation to clearcut the Elliott to fund public schools in Oregon, and the forest will now be managed with an emphasis on older forest conservation and research.

The conservation organizations were represented by Daniel Kruse of Kruse & Saint Marie LLC, Daniel Snyder of Public Justice, Nick Cady of Cascadia Wildlands and Brian Segee of the Center for Biological Diversity.

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Cascadia Wildlands works on behalf of its over 15,000 members and supporters to defend and restore Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets. 

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

Bird Alliance of Oregon (formerly Portland Audubon) was founded in 1902 to promote the understanding, enjoyment and protection of native birds, other wildlife and their habitats. Today, it represents over 16,000 members in Oregon.

Founded in January 1982, Public Justice (originally Trial Lawyers for Public Justice) is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization that takes on purveyors of corporate corruption, sexual abusers and harassers, and polluters who ravage the environment.

The post Press Release: Ninth Circuit Upholds Conservationists’ Efforts to Stop Coastal Old-Growth Logging first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contacts:
Bethany Cotton, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463
Matthew Bishop, Western Environmental Law Center
Larry Campbell, Friends of the Bitterroot
Keith Hammer, Swan View Coalition
Lindsay Larris, WildEarth Guardians
Mike Garrity, Alliance for the Wild Rockies

Today, after more than 20 years of advocacy by wildlife conservation groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) found that wolverines warrant federal protections as a threatened species. Numbering only about 300 in the contiguous U.S., snow-dependent wolverine populations have suffered from climate change, habitat loss, trapping, and other anthropogenic pressures.

The Service prepared a mostly strong, interim Endangered Species Act 4(d) rule, which serves as a road map for the agency to aid in wolverine recovery and grants specific protections and exceptions for the species. The agency will also prepare a wolverine recovery plan and identify protected critical habitat in the future, and may prepare a plan for reintroduction into Colorado as well. Wildlife groups do have concerns about language in that rule allowing incidental wolverine “take” from trapping “conducted in a manner that uses best practices to minimize the potential for capture and mortality of wolverines.” This coalition isn’t sure this is possible for wolverines because they are scavengers and known as “trap junkies.” This coalition of groups will  thus provide feedback on this and other provisions in the interim 4(d) rule during the comment period.

Wildlife conservation groups have twice successfully challenged the Service in federal court for relying on flawed science to deny wolverines Endangered Species Act protections. The court most recently ordered the Service to make a new decision by Nov. 30, 2023, resulting in today’s threatened listing determination.

“I’m glad the Fish and Wildlife Service finally ignored the misplaced policy concerns raised by states like Idaho, Wyoming, and even Montana over the last decade, and made a listing decision based solely on the best available science,” said Matthew Bishop, attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center. “Wolverines can’t wait another year or two for the long-overdue protections they deserve. That said, we are concerned about  the allowances for trapping in wolverine habitat, and we will be taking a closer look at that. We doubt it’s possible to trap without the risk of take. Wolverines—a crucial species for many ecosystems throughout the western U.S.—deserve the fullest protections possible. Given the small population and climate change quickly shrinking the snowy habitat wolverines rely on to survive, time is of the essence.”

“The science and the law could not be more clear: Wolverines deserve Endangered Species Act protections,” said Bethany Cotton, conservation director with Cascadia Wildlands. “We are gratified that at long last, the Fish and Wildlife Service did its job by following the science and affording this iconic climate-impacted species essential safeguards.”

Attorneys from the Western Environmental Law Center represented WildEarth Guardians, Cascadia Wildlands, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Cottonwood Environmental Law Center, Footloose Montana, Friends of the Bitterroot, Friends of the Wild Swan, George Wuerthner, Helena Hunters and Anglers Association, Native Ecosystems Council, Oregon Wild, Wildlands Network, and the Swan View Coalition on previous litigation.

The groups involved in the court victories leading to this decision will engage in the Service’s process to ensure wolverines benefit from the full protections under the law and make a strong recovery.

“The wolverine has been clawing for survival for far too long,” said Lindsay Larris, wildlife program director with WildEarth Guardians. “This decision is the first step towards the path for the wolverine to recover and reclaim their status as an icon of the Rocky Mountain West.” 

“We appreciate that the Fish and Wildlife Service finally listed wolverines as threatened, but their 4(d) rule, which allows wolverines to be trapped, is a road map for extinction, not recovery,” said Mike Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. “A state district court in Montana ruled in our favor in 2012 that wolverine trapping was illegal because there are so few wolverines. The Fish and Wildlife Service needs to follow the law like all Americans are required to do and come up with a plan to recover wolverines.”

“In the face of climate change, along with greater recreational use of wolverine high-elevation winter habitat, the wolverine deserves immediate listing under the Endangered Species Act,” said ecologist George Wuerthner.

“This decision is huge for Helena Hunters and Anglers Association,” said board member Gary Ingman. “Wolverine are an icon of wilderness and an indicator species of secure wildlife habitat, with benefits to many other species. We have supported this effort from the beginning, recognizing the declining status of wolverine in Montana and the west, starting with our group’s petition to halt wolverine trapping in Montana in 2012. We’ve spent countless hours as volunteers conducting winter surveys of tracks, collecting hair and scat samples for DNA analysis, and coordinating with other researchers to document wolverine status. We’ve worked hard lobbying for protection of wolverine habitat in forest plans and through travel management on public lands. It’s gratifying to see the Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledge the need for additional protection for wolverine in this uncertain and rapidly changing time.”

“Listing wolverine has been as elusive as the animal,” said Larry Campbell of Friends of the Bitterroot. “Thanks to the stamina and focus of citizen conservationists over many years it appears to be finally materializing before it’s too late.”

“A wolverine was recently found dead and skinned on a closed Forest Service road on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and I found a dead wolverine on a closed Forest Service road on the Flathead National Forest in 2021,” said Keith Hammer, Chair of the Swan View Coalition. “Wolverine need these Endangered Species Act protections to get more effective road closures and habitat security from the Forest Service and other land management agencies.”

STUNNING photos for media use (PLEASE CREDIT PHOTOGRAPHER KALON BAUGHAN):
Wolverine in the High Country
Wolverine behind tree
Wolverine on hill
Wolverine in Montana
Wolverine – The Survivor

Quote from judge’s order in 2016 decision:
“[T]he Service’s decision against listing the wolverine as threatened under the ESA is arbitrary and capricious. No greater level of certainty is needed to see the writing on the wall for this snow-dependent species standing squarely in the path of global climate change. It has taken us twenty years to get to this point. It is the [Court’s] view that if there is one thing required of the Service under the ESA, it is to take action at the earliest possible, defensible point in time to protect against the loss of biodiversity within our reach as a nation. For the wolverine, that time is now.” Opinion at page 83.

Background:
Wolverines number only about 300 individuals in the contiguous U.S. and are dependent on areas that retain persistent snow into the spring months. Every wolverine den ever detected in the lower 48 States was in snow. Wolverines are built for cold, snowy environments. They wear a double-fur coat and have large snowshoe-like paws with the crampon claws that allow them to travel easily over snow and mountainous terrain. One study found 98% of all wolverine den sites in places with persistent late spring snowpack.

Imperiled by climate change, habitat loss, small population size and trapping, wolverines were first petitioned for Endangered Species Act protections in 2000. The Service found the petition did not contain adequate information to justify a listing. A federal court overturned that decision in 2006. The Service then issued a negative 12-month finding in 2008, which many of the groups on this statement challenged in court, resulting in a settlement that led to a new finding that wolverines should be protected under the Endangered Species Act, but that other priorities precluded the listing at that time. A landmark settlement which resolved the backlog of imperiled species awaiting protections then guaranteed a new finding for wolverines. In February 2013, the Service proposed listing the wolverine as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In August 2014, however, the Service reversed course and issued a decision not to list the species, contradicting its own expert scientists’ recommendations. In April, 2016 the court overturned the Service’s decision not to list, reinstating wolverines’ status as a candidate species and requiring a new final rule. That court correctly noted that the Endangered Species Act directs the Service to make listing decisions based on the best available science, not the best possible science. In October 2020, the Service again decided not to list. A federal court rejected that decision in 2022, requiring the service to make a new determination by Nov. 30, 2023.

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The post Press Release: Wolverines listed as “threatened” under Endangered Species Act after 20-year conservation effort first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contacts:
Peter Jensen, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463
Lindsey Hutchison, Willamette Riverkeeper
John Persell, Oregon Wild

Eugene, Oregon – Today, conservation organizations Willamette Riverkeeper, Cascadia Wildlands, and Oregon Wild filed suit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), challenging the agency’s authorization of the approximately 4,600-acre Big League Project in the Calapooia and Mohawk River Watersheds northeast of Eugene. According to the groups’ complaint, the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to take the required “hard look” at the impacts that the Big League Project would have on a host of environmental values, including spotted owl habitat, carbon storage, stream flows, and water quality. Specifically, this project plans to clearcut the last and best older forest stands in the Calapooia and Mohawk River Watersheds. 

Of particular concern, the BLM failed to fully analyze the effects of logging and road construction activities on the threatened Upper Willamette River spring Chinook salmon. According to a 2011 analysis by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), these salmon are at a “very high risk” of extinction and logging units within the Big League Project directly abut the species’ critical habitat in the Calapooia River.

Due to impacts on Chinook salmon, the conservation groups also gave notice to the BLM and NMFS that the agencies are in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to account for changed conditions in the Calapooia Watershed following the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire.

“It’s outrageous and completely unacceptable that the BLM and NMFS have not acted in accordance with bedrock environmental laws. The BLM’s pursuit of clearcut logging along the Calapooia puts the Upper Willamette River spring Chinook salmon’s already fragile habitat directly at risk,” said Lindsey Hutchison of Willamette Riverkeeper.

The groups claim that the changed conditions in the Calapooia Watershed make the BLM’s timber sale unlawful. Particularly, while most of the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire burned at a low or moderate severity, a significant portion experienced high or moderate soil burn severity. Fire-damaged soils have high rates of root mortality and increased rates of water runoff and erosion. The fire affected nearly 14,000 acres of the Calapooia Watershed, eliminating streamside vegetation, destabilizing streambanks, and elevating sediment in the river. Such changed conditions make the BLM’s reliance on NMFS’s 2018 Biological Opinion (BiOp) to support the Big League Project and associated timber sales unlawful. 

“Once again, the BLM is rushing to log without fully considering how their actions impact the larger landscape,” said Peter Jensen of Cascadia Wildlands. “Our forests and watersheds will pay the price, and vulnerable spotted owl and salmon populations will be pushed even closer to extinction.”

In the 2018 BiOp, NMFS recognized that the BLM’s logging program would affect designated critical habitat by raising stream temperatures, introducing sediment into streams, reducing large wood recruitment into streams, and altering peak and base flows of streams. The added effects of the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire compound the harm that will result from the logging and road work authorized for the Big League Project. By ignoring the cumulative impacts on Chinook salmon, the BLM risks severely degrading the species’ habitat in pursuit of timber volume.

“Public lands are some of the last places for imperiled wildlife and quality salmon habitat, where mature and old-growth forests can grow to help us fight climate change and make the landscape more resilient,” said John Persell of Oregon Wild. “The BLM is performing a lot of bureaucratic gymnastics to argue that turning these refuge forests into another series of clearcuts, surrounded by more clearcuts, is going to have ‘no significant impact.'”

The Upper Willamette River spring Chinook salmon are a genetically distinct group, well-adapted to the natural river flows and seasonal changes of the Willamette River and its tributaries. Logging can degrade its stream habitat by muddying waters, altering riverbed stability, and obstructing migration corridors. All of these changes harm the survival of these unique salmon. Efforts to protect their habitat and ensure clean water, stable riverbeds, and clear migration paths are crucial, as their populations have sharply declined, with counts of wild Upper Willamette River spring Chinook averaging less than 10,000 fish annually at Willamette Falls since 2010. Historically, the Upper Willamette River supported hundreds of thousands of spring Chinook salmon. In the 1920s, approximately 300,000 adult spring Chinook salmon were observed passing Willamette Falls.

Cascadia Wildlands is a 501c3 non-profit with over 12,000 members and supporters whose mission is to defend and restore Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets. We envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, a stable climate, and vibrant communities sustained by the unique landscapes of the Cascadia bioregion. 

Willamette Riverkeeper is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1996 with thousands of members in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Willamette Riverkeeper focuses on protecting and restoring the resources of the Willamette River Basin in Oregon and works on programs and projects ranging from the Clean Water Act compliance and river education to Superfund cleanup and restoring habitat.

Oregon Wild represents 20,000 members and supporters who share our mission to protect and restore Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and water as an enduring legacy. Our goal is to protect areas that remain intact while striving to restore areas that have been degraded.

The post Press Release: Conservation Groups Challenge BLM’s “Big League” Logging Project Due to Impacts on Imperiled Spring Chinook Salmon Habitat and Other Values first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contacts:
Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463
Sangye Ince-Johannsen, Western Environmental Law Center
George Sexton, KS Wild
Doug Heiken, Oregon Wild

Court: Approval of old-growth timber sales in northern spotted owl habitat violated Endangered Species Act

Late Friday, a judge in the District Court for the District of Oregon ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) justification for Bureau of Land Management (Bureau) timber sales totaling nearly 18,000 acres including in old growth forest violated the Endangered Species Act. The judge ruled against the Service’s claim that old-growth logging in the Poor Windy and Evans Creek timber sales on 15,848 acres of threatened northern spotted owl habitat would not harm the imperiled bird species.

“While we are pleased with this result, it goes to show how emboldened our public land managers have become in pursuing the almighty board-foot, that they are willing to tell the American people and a federal judge that logging thousands of acres of habitat occupied by a threatened species like the northern spotted owl will cause zero ‘harm,’” said Sangye Ince-Johannsen, attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center. “The agencies’ singular focus on extraction over stewardship should concern every Oregonian, but today I’m grateful the law forbids that in some cases.”   

“This ruling should serve as a wake-up call to the BLM,” said George Sexton, conservation director for KS Wild. “It’s time for the BLM to work with stakeholders to thin second-growth timber plantations to reduce fire hazard instead of chasing around controversial old-growth timber sales in the backcountry.”

Judge Aiken also found that the Bureau and the Service illegally failed to consult on the effects of the East Evans Creek and Milepost 97 wildfires that actively burned the timber sale area as the Service concluded its evaluation. The Milepost 97 fire burned 4,706 acres of northern spotted owl habitat and reduced canopy closure below 40% in a narrow but vitally important east-west habitat bridge. 

“These are fire-prone, dry areas, and we opposed this massive logging project because it would increase fire risks and hazards for the surrounding community,” said Nick Cady with Cascadia Wildlands. “The agencies keep pushing logging projects that are putting our communities at risk, and it is past time that fire impacts drive our land management decisions, especially on public lands.”

Finally, Judge Aiken faulted the agencies for failing to analyze the effect of habitat loss resulting from these logging projects on the competitive interactions between the barred and spotted owl. 

Judge Aiken wrote that the Service “was not faced with scientific uncertainty, but unanimity concerning the negative impact of reduced [nesting, roosting, and foraging] habitat and the barred owls’ threat to the spotted owl based on the barred owls’ ability to out-compete for food and shelter,” order at 23. “In offering an explanation counter to the evidence after considering important aspects of the problem, [the Service] ultimately minimized the effect of the action and its conclusions are not supported by the evidence,’” order at 22.

“The agencies need to recognize that when two territorial species are competing for the same rare old-growth habitat, any reduction of habitat from logging will increase the chances of extinction.” said Doug Heiken of Oregon Wild.

Images for media use:
Kelsey Furman of KS Wild in unit 23-09 of the Poor Windy old-growth timber sale (Credit: KS Wild)
Proposed new logging road location through an old-growth forest in the Poor Windy Timber Sale (Credit: KS Wild)
 

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The post Press Release: Court Rules Logging Project Violates Endangered Species Act first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contacts:
Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463
Erin Hogan, Crag Law Center

Federal Agency Plan Would Intensively Log Remaining Spotted Owl Reserves

Eugene, OR — Today, Oregon-based conservation organizations Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild challenged the Bureau of Land Management’s (“BLM”) Siuslaw Field Office’s plan to log 13,225 acres of public forests in the coast range foothills west of Eugene. The agency’s Siuslaw HLB (“Harvest Land Base”) Project will clearcut these mature and old-growth forests that border many communities and residences west of Eugene. The BLM admits that this logging will increase fire hazard risks, slope instability and landslide risks, and drinking water contamination for these communities, but dismissed concerns raised about these impacts as insignificant.

“The BLM cannot continue to chase timber volume production at the expense of our communities,” said Nick Cady with Cascadia Wildlands. “Not only are we losing the few older forest stands that remain in the coast range, but admittedly the agency is putting us at increased risk from forest fires and landslides, and jeopardizing water quality. The little timber volume being generated from these mature, public forests is just not worth it.”

The targeted forests are home to at least four federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed species: northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, and Chinook and Oregon Coast coho salmon, along with listing candidate species the red tree vole, which is a candidate for ESA listing. Most of the forests slated for logging are mature and old-growth forests that provide suitable habitat for these species, but the agency dismissed impacts to these imperiled species as insignificant without any actual review of the impacts the logging would have on the ground. 

Many of the local residents strongly oppose the logging, as they believe its negative impacts–including drinking water contamination, increased wildfire hazard, loss of recreation opportunities, soil erosion, further road construction, and outright habitat destruction–strongly outweigh any benefits associated with timber production.

“If they remain standing, our public forests provide so many important public services, including clean water, habitat for fish & wildlife, climate stability, fire resilience, recreation and quality of life. Clearcut logging will sacrifice all these values, and for what? The private profits of a few in the timber industry. BLM has a responsibility to tell the truth but they are hiding the fact that the public is getting a rotten deal here,”  said Doug Heiken of Oregon Wild.

The lawsuit alleges violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, including failure to take the requisite “hard look” at environmental impacts and failure to conduct any site-specific analyses or prepare an Environmental Impact Statement. The BLM is required under federal environmental law to consider the negative impacts the proposed logging will have on our communities and weigh those impacts against the alleged benefits of timber volume generation logging. Many of the local residents strongly oppose the logging, which they believe will create that the negative impacts–including contamination of to their drinking water, increases in fire hazard, loss of recreation opportunities, soil erosion and stability, further road construction, and outright habitat destruction–that which elimination strongly outweighs any benefits associated with timber production.  

“The BLM is attempting to evade its legal obligation to consider and publicly disclose the impact these clearcuts will have on sensitive wildlife species, forest health, carbon storage and climate change, water quality, and wildfire hazard,” said attorney Erin Hogan. “The agencies tasked with managing our public lands must be accountable to the public they serve.”

The organizations are represented by attorneys from the Crag Law Center and Cascadia Wildlands.

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Eugene-based Cascadia Wildlands is a 501c3 non-profit with over 12,000 members and supporters whose mission is to defend and restore Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets. We envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, a stable climate, and vibrant communities sustained by the unique landscapes of the Cascadia bioregion.  

Oregon Wild represents 20,000 members and supporters who share our mission to protect and restore Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and water as an enduring legacy. Our goal is to protect areas that remain intact while striving to restore areas that have been degraded.

Crag Law Center is a nonprofit environmental law center based in Portland, Oregon that supports community efforts to protect and sustain the Pacific Northwest’s natural legacy. Implementing a unique model of legal aid for the environment, Crag balances the scales of justice by offering free and low-cost legal services to people who are working on the ground to protect our environment, climate and communities.

The post Press Release: Conservationists Challenge Coast Range Logging Plan  first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contacts:
Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463            
Noah Greenwald, Center for Biological Diversity
Bob Sallinger, Portland Audubon

 Old-Growth Clearcutting Would Imperil Threatened Marbled Murrelets

EUGENE, Ore. — Today, a U.S. District Court judge issued a ruling preventing Scott Timber from clearcutting old growth forest previously part of the Elliott State Forest. The court found that the proposed logging of the “Benson Ridge” parcel by the subsidiary of Roseburg Forest Products would harm and harass threatened marbled murrelets, in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act. The court’s ruling permanently enjoins logging of the occupied murrelet habitat.

In August 2016, Cascadia Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity and Portland Audubon filed suit seeking to block Scott Timber from clearcutting 49 acres of the 355-acre parcel of land because of the impacts to threatened marbled murrelets.

“Today’s ruling is groundbreaking because it holds a private timber company accountable for plans to destroy habitat essential for imperiled wildlife in Oregon,” said Nick Cady, legal director at Cascadia Wildlands. “This ruling establishes that private timber companies can no longer violate the Endangered Species Act with abandon.”

Marbled murrelets are listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. The Act strictly prohibits “take” — which includes harming, wounding, harassing or killing — of protected species.  Marbled murrelets are sea birds with unique nesting requirements. They lay a single egg high in horizontal branches of old-growth trees within 40 miles of the coastline, and make daily trips to the Pacific to bring fish to their young once hatched.

Murrelets were documented in the stand proposed for clearcutting more than 200 times by both Coast Range Forest Watch, a group of citizens scientists who conduct murrelet surveys out of concern for their survival, and the logging company’s own contractors, leading the court to find that logging would harm murrelets “through the destruction and degradation of occupied murrelet habitat” and thereby impair the seabird’s ability to nest for “100 years or more.”

“I love marbled murrelets and I’m thrilled they got a little more protection from logging,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The state of Oregon, private timber companies, and all of us share a responsibility to stop extinction and protect forests. This decision is good news not only for murrelets, but for hundreds of other species and future generations.

In July of last year, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife uplisted the murrelet’s state protected status from threatened to endangered under Oregon’s Endangered Species Act. In response to a 2016 lawsuit, the Oregon Board of Forestry is in the process of developing rules to protect murrelet sites on state and private timber lands, but has dragged the process out for over five years and has yet to propose final rules. When presented with this lawsuit, the federal Fish and Wildlife Service declined to take up the case.

“Since their listing 30-years ago under the ESA, marbled murrelets have moved even closer to extinction in Oregon in large part because state and federal agencies have not done enough to protect and preserve the older forests on which they depend,” said Bob Sallinger, conservation director for Portland Audubon. “Hopefully this win and others that preceded it will encourage state and federal agencies to more aggressively pursue their responsibilities to protect and recover this amazing seabird that depends on Oregon’s older coastal forests to nest.”

The Benson Ridge parcel was acquired by Scott Timber as a part of the state of Oregon’s efforts to sell the Elliott State Forest in 2014. Cascadia Wildlands, Audubon, and the Center for Biological Diversity challenged those land sale efforts in state court in order to keep the much loved forest open to the public. In 2019, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that the state’s efforts to sell the Elliott were illegal, and that the state’s understanding that these lands needed to be managed to maximize revenue were misplaced.

The court’s ruling builds on recent successful efforts to permanently protect the remainder of the Elliott State Forest. This past legislative session, the Elliott State Research Forest was created severing the link between old-growth timber sale revenues and public school funding in Oregon. The new research forest: 1) retains the forest in public ownership, 2) creates a 34,000-acre permanent reserve on the west side of the forest to benefit murrelets and other imperiled species, 3) protects nearly all of the remaining mature and old-growth forest left on the Elliott, and 4) meaningfully engages western Oregon tribes in its management.

The organizations were represented by attorneys for Cascadia Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity, attorney Daniel Kruse and the law offices of Charlie Tebbutt.

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Cascadia Wildlands defends and restores Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets. Cascadia Wildlands has over 12,000 members and supporters.
 
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
 
Audubon Society of Portland was founded in 1902 to promote the understanding, enjoyment and protection of native birds, other wildlife and their habitats. Today it represents over 16,000 members in Oregon.

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

Contact:
Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463
Doug Heiken, Oregon Wild

Federal Agency Plan Would Intensively Log Remaining Spotted Owl Reserves 

Eugene, OR — Late yesterday, Oregon-based conservation organizations Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild challenged the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Siuslaw Field Office’s plan to log public lands west of Eugene across seven watersheds. The agency’s “N126 Late Successional Reserve Landscape Plan Project” is one of the largest logging proposals on public lands in Oregon in decades. The targeted forests are home to at least three federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed species: northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, and Oregon Coast coho salmon, along with the red tree vole, which is currently a candidate for ESA listing. The agency failed entirely to consider impacts to these species, amongst other errors. 

Learn more about the N126 Project

“BLM has purposely hidden the specifics about this massive logging project from public review,” said John Mellgren, General Counsel at the Western Environmental Law Center. “Federal law demands the government fully disclose its plans and prepare a robust Environmental Impact Statement before proceeding with the logging contemplated by the BLM’s N126 project.” 

The agency’s proposed project authorizes commercial logging in areas that were designated as off-limits to commercial logging in the BLM’s governing 2016 management plan. 14,227 acres of Late-Successional Reserve (“LSR”) lands would be logged–nearly all of it commercially. The agency’s primary management objective for LSRs is to promote the development and maintenance of foraging habitat for the northern spotted owl, including creating and maintaining habitat to increase diversity and abundance of prey for the owl, regardless of whether owls are present.  

Additionally, over 2,000 acres of Riparian Reserves are slated for commercial logging. Akin to LSR purposes, Riparian Reserves’ primary management objectives are to contribute to the conservation and recovery of ESA-listed fish species and their habitats; maintain and restore natural channel dynamics, processes, and the proper functioning condition of riparian areas; and maintain water quality and streamflows to protect aquatic biodiversity and to provide quality water for recreation and drinking water sources.  

“Public trust in federal agencies is undermined when those agencies do not follow their own management plans developed via a public process,” said Nick Cady, Legal Director for Cascadia Wildlands. “The last remaining reserved areas should remain just that: protected for wildlife and fish from the commercial logging at the root of these iconic species’ decline.” 

The project also authorizes the addition of 50-90 miles of new roads to the already bloated public lands road network, and 300-420 miles of existing roads would be rebuilt or renovated. The plan is designed to generate 380 million board feet of lumber. 

“This project demonstrates that BLM’s narrow pursuit of timber makes them unable to see that logging harms many other public values we obtain from our public forests, such as clean water, fish and wildlife, recreation, and carbon storage,” said Doug Heiken, Conservation and Restoration Coordinator for Oregon Wild.  

The lawsuit alleges violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, including failure to take the requisite “hard look” and failure to conduct any site-specific analyses or prepare an Environmental Impact Statement, and that BLM’s failures to follow its own management plans violate the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild and hundreds of their members and supporters participated in the project development, submitting detailed public comments raising these concerns at every opportunity, but the agency failed to remedy the serious flaws in their decision, resulting in today’s lawsuit. 

The organizations are represented by attorneys from the Western Environmental Law Center and Cascadia Wildlands. 

Learn more about the N126 Project

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Eugene-based Cascadia Wildlands is a 501c3 non-profit with over 12,000 members and supporters whose mission is to defend and restore Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets. We envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, a stable climate, and vibrant communities sustained by the unique landscapes of the Cascadia bioregion.   

The Western Environmental Law Center uses the power of the law to safeguard the public lands, wildlife, and communities of the western U.S. in the face of a changing climate. We envision a thriving, resilient western U.S., abundant with protected public lands and wildlife, powered by clean energy, and defended by communities rooted in an ethic of conservation. 

Oregon Wild works to protect and restore Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and waters as an enduring legacy for future generations.

The post Press Release: Conservationists Challenge Logging Plan first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Download Rep. DeFazio’s letter.

Excerpts from the letter:

I write to request that you expeditiously reinstate Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, using your emergency listing powers as authorized under the ESA. The relisting is urgently needed before the region’s wolf population is decimated, undoing the decades of work toward wolf recovery in the Northern Rockies and beyond that brought these iconic animals back from near extinction.

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Killing wolves negates the key role they play in ecosystems. Wolves take out sick, old and inferior elk and deer, while hunters do not. It is also worth noting that-25 years after their return to Yellowstone National Park-the gray wolves that some feared would wipe out elk have instead proved to be more of a stabilizing force. Their presence deters elk and deer from passive grazing, which has helped stop stream erosion and degradation of fish habitat. It has also helped tree stands and vegetation recover. These are just a few of the services provided by these vital apex predators.

What You Can Do:

Contact Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior.
Call her at (202) 208-3100, email her via feedback@ios.doi.gov, or use the online form at the bottom of this page.

Contact Martha Williams, Principal Deputy Director of USFWS.
Call her at (800) 344-9453 or write her via www.fws.gov/duspit/contactus.htm.

The post DeFazio Letter Requests Immediate Protections for Gray Wolves first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contact:
Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463
Noah Greenwald, Center for Biological Diversity
Danielle Moser, Oregon Wild
Bob Sallinger, Portland Audubon

Lawsuit Filed to Protect North Oregon Coast Red Tree Voles

Tree-Dwelling Vole Threatened by Logging, Wildfire, Climate Change

PORTLAND, Ore.— Conservation groups filed a lawsuit today challenging a decision by the Trump administration to deny the north Oregon coast population of red tree voles protection under the Endangered Species Act.

In response to a 2007 petition from the groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found the vole warranted protection in 2011, but that such protection was precluded by listing other species. That determination was repeatedly reaffirmed until 2019, when the Trump administration abruptly reversed course and denied protections.

Red tree voles on Oregon’s north coast have been devastated by logging, wildfires and inadequate protections on state and private lands.

“We hope the Biden administration takes a close look at this politically driven decision, which is nothing more than another gift to the timber industry that ignores science,” said Noah Greenwald, the Center for Biological Diversity’s endangered species director. “Protecting the red tree vole means protecting the few remaining old forests on Oregon’s north coast. This benefits not just the vole, but also hundreds of other plants and animals, clean water and our climate.”

Red tree voles live nearly their entire lives in trees and are closely associated with old-growth forests. As one of very few mammals that can subsist entirely on conifer needles, tree voles rarely venture from the treetops to the ground, making them exceedingly vulnerable to logging and forest fragmentation. They have been nearly eliminated on the north coast by the long history of logging and wildfires in the region, including on the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests.

“Clearcut logging has reached record highs across the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests, and recent proposals from the Oregon Department of Forestry seek to explicitly ensure that forests are logged before they can become old-growth,” said Danielle Moser of Oregon Wild. “It’s not enough to just protect what remaining red tree vole habitat there is across Oregon’s north coast forests. We must allow some of the overcut tree plantations to mature, recover and become old-growth forests once again.”

The Oregon Department of Forestry is developing a habitat conservation plan that includes the tree vole but relies on very scant information about where it still remains, providing little assurance that the tree vole and the large blocks of old forest it lives in will be allowed to recover.

“Oregon’s north coast has been extensively logged, and the old forest that remains exists in small, isolated patches that shelter increasingly vulnerable populations of tree voles,” said Nick Cady, legal director of Cascadia Wildlands. “Not only do we need to protect what little habitat exists, but proactively restore larger patches of habitat to allow connectivity between the small, existing populations.”

“The plight of the red tree vole along with other species such as the northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet speak to the fact that the protections that are in place for Oregon’s older forests remain inadequate,” said Bob Sallinger, conservation director for Portland Audubon. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must follow both the law and the science and provide the red tree vole the protections they warrant before they disappear entirely from Oregon’s North Coast.”

Today’s lawsuit was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands and Portland Audubon.

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The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

Cascadia Wildlands is a grassroots conservation organization that defends and restores Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets. We envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, a stable climate, and vibrant communities sustained by the unique landscapes of the Cascadia bioregion.

Oregon Wild works to protect and restore Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and waters as an enduring legacy for future generations.

Audubon Society of Portland was founded in 1902 to promote the understanding, enjoyment and protection of native birds, other wildlife and their habitats.

The post Lawsuit Filed to Protect Red Tree Vole first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

What a wonderful week for Cascadia!

TUESDAY

On Tuesday, the proposed Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and 230-mile Pacific Connector pipeline was dealt what we hope is a fatal blow by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which – in a surprise but welcomed move – denied the fossil fuel company’s request to strip Oregon of its Clean Water Act authority. Oregon previously denied Jordan Cove this essential permit – a decision that now stands. Cascadia’s staff, allies, and supporters like you have fought Jordan Cove for 15 years: it’s long past time the threat of this dangerous proposal is lifted from our rural communities, affected Tribes, remaining old-growth, imperiled species, waterways, and our climate.

Later in the day, Washington’s Department of Ecology denied a key permit for the proposed Kalama methanol refinery in Kalama, Washington, effectively killing the project. The proposed refinery would have tied this Washington community to a dirty fossil fuel project for a generation and undermined progress to address climate change.

These two victories — rooted in sustained grassroots activism — demonstrate the power of advocacy, of working across difference: landowners, students, conservationists, Tribes, all coming together in common cause to realize a better, cleaner future.

WEDNESDAY

Then came Wednesday when we woke to a list from the incoming Biden-Harris administration of over 100 anti-environment regulations it intends to review, including the removal of Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves, the stripping of 3.4-million acres of critical habitat for the northern spotted owl, exemption of the Tongass National Forest from the 2001 Roadless Rule, dangerous regulations limiting or eliminating public engagement on projects that imperil our environment, like reckless timber sale planning. Some of these efforts will take time, but they are a very positive signal that the administration intends to prioritize undoing much of the harm done over the past four years.

A few hours later, once formally in office, the administration withdrew the Keystone XL pipeline permit, rejoined the Paris Climate Accord (effective in 30 days), ended the construction of the border wall, placed a moratorium on leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and ordered a review of the shrinkage of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Marine Monument. The new White House Press Secretary explained these were just the initial actions and noted the need to study the “social cost of greenhouse gas emissions,” clearly acknowledging the existential threats posed by climate change.

THURSDAY

And yesterday, we learned that in response to our administrative protest, the Bureau of Land Management withdrew the 62-acre Beaver Creek timber sale in the Umpqua Field Office of the Coos Bay District along with the entire Environmental Assessment. The proposed logging was in potential nesting habitat for the imperiled marbled murrelet and northern spotted owl in forest areas with trees up to 129 years old. The project had potential negative cumulative impacts with the proposed Pacific Connector pipeline and additional timber sales, as well as increasing fire risk to a rural community, and impacting residential water sources. The agency will now engage in new environmental analysis.

As National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman said at the presidential inauguration, “there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

Thank you for being the light these past four years, these past two-plus decades. We are looking forward to holding this administration accountable to its promises, to pushing it to do more to conserve and recover the wilds of Cascadia and beyond, and to celebrating more victories with you all.

It has been an inspiring first week, and together, we will accomplish so much for Cascadia.

The post BLOG: A Week to Remember first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.