legal

Press Release: Ninth Circuit Upholds Conservationists’ Efforts to Stop Coastal Old-Growth Logging

August 1, 2025June 26, 2024 by kaley

June 26, 2024 — 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.

Press Release: Lawsuit Launched to Protect Oregon’s Red Tree Voles

August 1, 2025June 20, 2024 by kaley

Red tree vole (photo by Northwest Ecosystem Survey Team, NEST).

June 20, 2024 — Conservation groups informed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today that they intend to sue over the agency’s denial of Endangered Species Act protections to the imperiled North Oregon Coast population of red tree voles. The Service’s decision to deny protections in February echoes a 2019 Trump administration denial, which was made despite several previous findings that protection was warranted. North Coast voles are threatened by logging and climate change-fueled wildfires.

Press Release: Court Halts Logging of Elliott State Forest Tract Sold to Private Timber Company

July 23, 2025June 28, 2022 by kaley

June 28, 2022 — 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.

Press Release: CW Appeals ODOT’s $87,000 Bill for Post-Fire Hazard Tree Removal Public Records Request

August 1, 2025July 6, 2021 by kaley

July 6, 2021 — Cascadia Wildlands appealed the $87,756.60 estimated bill issued by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) in response to the organization’s public records request seeking documents related to the agency’s hazard tree removal activities following the 2020 Labor Day fires.

Lawsuit Filed to Protect Red Tree Vole

August 4, 2025March 30, 2021 by nsc425

March 25, 2021 — 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.

Western Wolf Coalition Challenges Nationwide Wolf Delisting

August 1, 2025January 14, 2021 by nsc425

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: Northern spotted owls are endangered, but we’re too busy to help

August 1, 2025January 4, 2021 by nsc425

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.”

Missing lynx: Advocates challenge Feds’ refusal to prepare recovery plan

August 1, 2025December 1, 2020 by nsc425

December 1, 2020 — Today, a coalition of conservation organizations filed a complaint in federal court challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (the Service’s) decision to forgo recovery planning for threatened Canada lynx.

Press Release: Legal Action Taken to Halt Thurston Hills Logging in Springfield, OR

August 1, 2025August 17, 2020 by kaley

August 17, 2020 — In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rejected administrative protests and decided to move forward with the Thurston Hills timber sale despite widespread opposition to the project. Last year on September 19th 2019, Oregon’s federal District Court rejected the Thurston Hills timber sale due to BLM’s failure to disclose increased wildfire danger for nearby communities and residents, and the BLM’s failure to designate and protect trails in this newly designated recreation area. In response to the court order, BLM made no changes to the project and quickly reissued another decision, a response typical of the Trump administration which ignores the rule of law and attempts to circumvent environmental rules and public process.

Press Release: Legal Petition Filed to Regulate Washington Wolf-killing

August 1, 2025May 11, 2020 by nsc425

May 11, 2020 — Conservation groups petitioned the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission today for rules limiting when the state can kill endangered wolves for conflicts with livestock. The state has killed 31 wolves since 2012, relying on a protocol that skews heavily toward lethal and ineffective outcomes.

Federal Appeals Court Blocks Mt. Hood Logging

August 4, 2025April 3, 2020 by nsc425

April 3, 2020 — Cascadia Wildlands and our allies Bark and Oregon Wild prevailed before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today federal court in a long-running legal battle over the Crystal Clear logging project on the eastern slopes of Mount Hood. The logging project encompassed nearly 12,000 acres of public land in the Mount Hood National Forest, and included almost 3000 acres of logging of mature and old-growth forests along with plans to build or re-open 36 miles of roads.

Legal Victory: Thurston Hills Timber Sale Defeated in Court

August 1, 2025September 19, 2019 by nsc425

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.

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