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.

Portland, OR — 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. 

“We need protections for these ridiculously cute red tree voles, who spend virtually their entire lives in the tops of big trees, eating conifer needles,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s not rocket science that when these trees are logged or burned, tree voles die. On Oregon’s North Coast, decades of rampant clearcutting have nearly wiped out the vole’s populations.”   

Red tree voles build their nests on complex branch and bole structures found in old growth forest. The North Coast is dominated by a combination of private industrial timberlands and the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests. Decades of rapacious clearcut logging, as well a series of historic fires known as the Tillamook Burn, have eliminated the vast majority of the area’s old forests, along with the red tree voles that once called them home. 

“Red tree voles are a harbinger of the health of our forests; they are suffering the negative impacts of decades of mismanagement,” said Bethany Cotton, conservation director with Cascadia Wildlands. “It’s long past time for the agency tasked with safeguarding imperiled species to do its job and provide these adorable forest dwellers with the protections they need to recover.” 

Remaining North Coast voles are concentrated on federal lands administered by the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Although the Northwest Forest Plan helps protect these remaining small and isolated populations, the long-term survival of the voles depends on improving state and private land forest management.  

The state forests are in the process of adopting a habitat conservation plan that will provide some protection to the vole. But the plan will also allow continued logging of thousands of acres of potential vole habitat without any surveys to determine if the species is present. The tree vole currently has no protections on private forests.  

“The red tree vole, and the diverse older forests it inhabits, are vital to the survival of northern spotted owls, wild salmon and countless other species,” said Danielle Moser, wildlife program manager for Oregon Wild. “These forests and wildlife are a critical part of Oregon’s natural heritage, and they should be protected as a legacy for future generations; not destroyed for short-term profit.” 

In response to a 2007 Center petition, the Service determined in 2011 that protection of the North Oregon Coast population of red tree voles was “warranted but precluded.” It then moved the voles to a list of candidate species for a decade until it reversed course and denied protections in 2019. A Center lawsuit over the denial resulted in a 2022 settlement directing the Service to reconsider the decision. 

“Red tree voles (everyone’s favorite tree hamsters) are threatened by logging and wildfire, yet the Fish and Wildlife Service has gone to great lengths to contradict its own findings that this species deserves protection,” said Quinn Read, conservation director at Bird Alliance of Oregon. “Red tree voles don’t have time for bureaucratic delays — the agency must do its job to protect this species and its forest habitat.” 

Today’s notice of intent was sent by the Center for Biological Diversity, Bird Alliance of Oregon, Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild.  

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Cascadia Wildlands defends and restores 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 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.  

Bird Alliance of Oregon was founded in 1902 and works statewide to advocate for Oregon’s wildlife and wild places, and to inspire all people to love and protect birds, wildlife, and the natural environment upon which life depends.  

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

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

Conservationist Appeal ODOT’s Bill for Release of Public Records

Agency Billed Cascadia Wildlands $87,000 for Hazard Tree Removal Records

Portland, OR — 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.

ODOT is in the process of using hundreds of millions of federal and state dollars to remove hundreds of thousands of trees along public roads and public and private properties that burned the 2020 wildfires. Despite the considerable amount of taxpayer dollars at issue, and the impacts of these actions on Oregonians and Oregon’s public forests, ODOT largely failed to be transparent regarding its allocation of funds and its contracting process. This spring, individuals including several contractors and landowners with first hand knowledge came forward with allegations of mismanagement of the funds and excessive tree cutting. Considerable media coverage led to several state legislative hearings during which whistleblowers testified on the record to misdeeds including over marking of trees, unqualified individuals conducting tree marking, excessive cutting, and drug use on the job.

On April 1, 2021, Cascadia Wildlands submitted a public records request to ODOT. Under Oregon’s Public Records Law, “every person” has a right to inspect any nonexempt public record of a public body in Oregon. Cascadia requested records pertaining to hazard tree removal following the fall 2020 wildfires, including guidelines to be followed, the criteria for hazard tree removal and assessment, and information about the contracts and contractors. As is standard under Oregon law, Cascadia Wildlands — an Oregon-based non-profit organization with an over 20 year history of forest advocacy — requested a fee waiver. Public bodies, including ODOT, are statutorily required to consider and grant reasonable requests to waive or reduce fees associated with fulfilling a public record request if doing so is in the public’s interest “because making the records available primarily benefits the general public.” ODOT sent Cascadia an estimated bill of over $87,000 to provide the records and denied the fee waiver request. Today, Cascadia Wildlands appeals that denial to the Oregon Attorney General.

“Public records are just that: public and ODOT’s staff and activities are paid with public dollars,” said Nick Cady, legal director for Cascadia Wildlands. “ODOT’s refusal to reduce or waive fees and it’s outrageously high estimate demonstrate the agency is more interested in hiding its misdeeds than being transparent with the public the agency serves.”

Cascadia Wildlands is represented by the Crag Law Center in the appeal.

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Background

The 2020 wildfire season was one of the state’s most destructive on record. The largest block of fire, referred to as the Oregon Labor Day Wildfires, consisted of five fires on the western side of the Cascades that spread dramatically due to a historic windstorm. These fires took the lives of nine Oregonians, displaced thousands of individuals, burned more than 1.2 million acres of land, and destroyed more than 5,000 residential and commercial structures. In the wake of the 2020 wildfire season, Oregon began rehabilitation efforts, including cleaning up debris and hazardous materials.

To reach Oregon’s wildfire recovery goals, the state has assigned the Oregon Department of Transportation to lead the Oregon Debris Management Task Force. The task force also consists of the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Oregon’s wildfire debris clean-up process consists of two steps focusing on the safe clean-up and disposal of potentially harmful materials. In December 2020, ODOT completed step one, which addressed the clean-up of household hazardous waste removal. Step two, which consists of removing hazard trees, ash, and debris by state-hired contractors, began in December 2020 and is predicted to take six to eighteen months to complete. Hazard tree removal clears trees that can fall onto roadways, properties, and recreation areas where people frequent. Similarly, ash and debris removal consist of toxic ash and structural debris which must be removed to ensure safety before rebuilding can begin.

Currently, the total cost estimate of the debris clean-up is $622 million. The assessment includes $326 million for ash and debris removal and $295.7 million for hazard tree removal. Oregon and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will share the cost to fund the clean-up efforts. While Oregon funds will initially pay for clean-up, at least 75% of the hazard tree removal and structural debris removal is eligible for reimbursement by FEMA as long as the Oregon Debris Management Task Force complies with FEMA’s requirements of controlling costs, reducing waste, and eliminating fraud.

As the Oregon Debris Management Task Force and specifically ODOT and its contractors began implementing their plans to cut nearly 300,000 trees deemed as hazardous, members of the public grew concerned about the number of trees being cut along scenic highways, protected rivers, and secondary roads within the burn boundaries of 2020’s wildfires. Following Oregon Public Broadcasting’s exposé of ODOT’s mismanagement of post-fire roadside hazard tree removal and accusations by whistleblowers and industry leaders, Oregon Senator Jeff Golden, chair of the Senate Wildfire Recovery Committee, held several hearings requesting information from ODOT regarding the tree removal effort. It was during this time that Cascadia submitted its public records request. Since the hearings, public officials, environmental groups, and communities affected by the post-fire logging have called upon Governor Kate Brown to immediately pause the cutting and halt the excessive roadside logging occurring under the guise of hazard tree removal.

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

Contact:
Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands, 314-482-3746
Kelly Nokes, Western Environmental Law Center, 575-613-8051
John Mellgren, Western Environmental Law Center, 541-359-0990
Erik Molvar, Western Watersheds Project, 307-399-7910
Lindsay Larris, WildEarth Guardians, 310-923-1465

Today, a coalition of Western wolf advocates challenged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to prematurely strip wolves of federal protections in the contiguous 48 states, in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

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.

“Wolves are a keystone species whose presence on landscapes regulates animal populations and improves ecosystem health – something the Service has acknowledged for at least 44 years,” said Kelly Nokes, Western Environmental Law Center attorney. “Allowing people to kill wolves in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana has already stunted recovery in those states. Applying this same death sentence to wolves throughout the contiguous U.S. would nationalize these negative effects, with potentially catastrophic ripple effects on ecosystems where wolves have yet to fully recover.”

In delisting wolves, the Service ignored the science showing they are not recovered in the West. The Service concluded that because in its belief there are sufficient wolves in the Great Lakes states, it does not matter that wolves in the West are not yet recovered. The Endangered Species Act demands more, including restoring the species in the ample suitable habitats afforded by the wild public lands throughout the West. Indeed, wolves are listed as endangered under state laws in Washington and California, and wolves only occupy a small portion of available, suitable habitat in Oregon. Likewise, wolves have only just begun to recolonize their historical, wild, public lands habitat in much of the West, including in Colorado and the southern Rockies.

“From a scientific standpoint, wolves are nowhere near being recovered in the western United States,” said Erik Molvar, a wildlife biologist and executive director with Western Watersheds Project. “The federal government has the obligation to keep wolves protected until robust and secure populations are in place throughout the West, and we intend to ensure that wolves get the legal defense they need against premature delisting.”

“We have seen what happens when ‘management’ of wolves is returned to hostile state wildlife agencies disinterested in maintaining robust, stable, and genetically diverse wolf populations,” said Lindsay Larris, Wildlife Program director at WildEarth Guardians. “Idaho, which allows an individual to kill up to 30 wolves annually, saw the slaughter of nearly 600 wolves and wolf pups in a recent 12-month period and now other states are gearing up to allow wolf hunting and trapping this fall. Returning this type of unscientific and barbaric ‘management’ to states at this early juncture would spell disaster for true gray wolf recovery, plain and simple.”

The conservation groups have long been active on wolf recovery issues in the American West, including working with Western states to develop science-based wolf management plans, mounting cases to rein in rogue federal government wolf-killing programs, promoting recovery efforts in the Southwest for critically imperiled Mexican gray wolves, and working with local governments and landowners to deploy non-lethal tools that prevent wolf-livestock conflicts.

“With only a handful of wolves in California, western Oregon, and western Washington, wolf recovery is still precarious on the west coast,” said John Mellgren, Western Environmental Law Center general counsel. “A rush to delist the species across the entire country runs counter to the Service’s own peer review, and tells West Coast states that wolf recovery in their part of the country does not matter. We look forward to presenting the science to a federal court.”

While the Trump administration may believe it can disregard science to promote purely political listing decisions, the law does not support such a stance. The best available science says gray wolves are not recovered, and the coalition looks forward to having a court hear their science-based arguments for why wolves still need of Endangered Species Act protections to truly recover across the species range.

“In just the last year, we lost an icon to wolf recovery when OR-7 passed away. He and his mate represent the first generation of wolves in western Oregon in nearly a century,” said Joseph Vaile with the conservation group Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center based in southwest Oregon. “Delisting is clearly premature and obviously politically driven. It’s a last-ditch effort by the Trump administration to strip away protections for recovering wildlife.”

“Removing Endangered Species Act protections for any species should be based science, not politics, and the science tells us wolves are not there yet,” said Chris Bachman, Wildlife Program director at The Lands Council. “The gray wolf remains functionally extinct in 85% of its historic range, with 70% of suitable habitat remaining unoccupied across the lower 48 states. Legal protections must remain in place for the gray wolf to allow wider dispersal across a significant portion of its range.”

“Wolves were nearly exterminated from the lower 48. We should be celebrating the species’ ongoing recovery and the incredible success stories of the Endangered Species Act,” said Nick Cady, Legal Director with Cascadia Wildlands. “Instead, wolves have become another victim of the polarization and political game-playing in Washington D.C., and conservation groups are left battling to stem rising calls for active eradication of the species. Conservation of native species formerly enjoyed widespread bipartisan support. The actions of this administration toward wildlife are shameful.”

“The finger on the trigger of wolf slaughter is driven by anti-government fanatics who foment fear, lies and mistrust. The Endangered Species Act makes such hostility to wild nature more difficult, more closely watched,” said Timothy Coleman, director of Kettle Range Conservation Group and former member of the state Wolf Advisory Group. “Eighty-five percent of wolves we know were killed in Washington were in the Kettle River Range where gray wolf was delisted from the Endangered Species Act in 2009, though it remained state listed endangered. Had it remained Endangered Species Act-listed, entire wolf families would not have been repeatedly killed in northeast Washington. Regionally, this has meant wolves are not dispersing to Mount Rainier and Olympia National Park, or other public lands in the Pacific Northwest.”

“California’s wolves are just starting to return home,” said Tom Wheeler, executive director at the Environmental Protection Information Center. “A politically driven delisting puts wolf recovery in jeopardy by stripping protections at the moment they are needed most.”

“We must learn to coexist with gray wolves. These highly intelligent and social animals play a key role in balancing entire ecosystems,” said Kimberly Baker of the Klamath Forest Alliance. “Federal protection is paramount to safeguarding this nation’s rightful heritage.”

The coalition of western wildlife advocates launching this legal challenge includes WildEarth Guardians, Western Watersheds Project, Cascadia Wildlands, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), The Lands Council, Wildlands Network, Klamath Forest Alliance, and Kettle Range Conservation Group, represented by the Western Environmental Law Center. A separate lawsuit is planned by Earthjustice representing national wildlife groups.

The post Western Wolf Coalition Challenges Nationwide Wolf Delisting first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contacts:
Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands, 314-482-3746, nick@cascwild.org

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.”

The advocates’ complaint, filed last week, came after the Service failed to take multiple actions required by the Endangered Species Act to protect the northern spotted owl from extinction over the course of nearly a decade.

“On the one hand, you have biologists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledging that northern spotted owls are extremely close to extinction and more must be done to prevent the extinction of the species,” said Susan Jane Brown, attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center. “On the other, you have the Trump administration catering to the demands of an out-of-touch timber industry. Placing commercial interests ahead of the continued existence of this iconic species is shameful, and thankfully, not permitted by the Endangered Species Act.”

“While we are glad that the Service has acknowledged the reality—northern spotted owls are rapidly going extinct—today’s announcement is also illustrative of the failures of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” said Tom Wheeler, executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center. “The Service only acted under threat of lawsuit and the agency still managed to squirm out of any real action by complaining it has too much work to do. Delay and inaction are precisely how we are driving the spotted owl to extinction.”

Timber harvesting in the Northwest has resulted in a widespread loss of spotted owl habitat across its range, which was a main reason for prompting the listing of the species in 1990. Owls depend on habitat provided by the dense canopy of mature and old-growth forests; unfortunately, those forests are still a target for logging throughout the bird’s historic range. The northern spotted owl is already functionally extinct in its northernmost range, with only one recognized breeding pair left in British Columbia.

“We know that climate change and the loss of high-quality habitat are imminent threats to the spotted owl,” said Joseph Vaile, climate director at Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center. “If we wait years or decades for federal officials to address these issues, it will be too late.”

“The owl is biologically determined to be endangered, yet the agency continues to find excuses do nothing,” said Kimberly Baker, executive director of the Klamath Forest Alliance. “The Endangered Species Act demands action from the Service, not excuses.”

“The Fish and Wildlife Service says the spotted owl deserves protection as an endangered species but can’t be bothered to actually do it,” said Doug Heiken with Oregon Wild. “This makes no sense. The Service has already made the finding that the owl is endangered of extinction. The owl is already listed as threatened. The owl already has critical habitat, and already has a recovery plan. How much more work is it to move the check mark from the threatened column to the endangered column and start giving the owl the protection it deserves?”

“Despite today’s announcement that the northern spotted owl is ‘unofficially endangered’ and likely to go extinct, the Service has prioritized working against its recovery under the Trump administration,” Brown said. In August 2020, the Service settled a timber industry lawsuit by proposing to eliminate more than 200,000 acres of northern spotted owl critical habitat. Before January 20, 2021, the Service will make a decision that may diminish designated northern spotted owl critical habitat on a scale that dwarfs the aforementioned reduction proposal. “We will wait and see what further decisions the Service makes regarding the fate of the spotted owl before deciding how we move forward in light of today’s announcement,” Brown said.

In response to a court order, in 1990 the Service listed the northern spotted owl as threatened, citing low and declining populations, limited and declining habitat, competition from barred owls, and other factors in the bird’s plight. Even after its listing, northern spotted owl populations have declined by 70%, and the rate of decline has increased.

Additional Background from the Service’s Announcement Today:

“Habitat loss was the primary factor leading to the listing of the northern spotted owl as a threatened species, and it continues to be a stressor on the subspecies due to the lag effects of past habitat loss, continued timber harvest, wildfire, and a minor amount from insect and forest disease outbreaks.”

“On non-Federal lands, State regulatory mechanisms have not prevented the continued decline of nesting/roosting and foraging habitat; the amount of northern spotted owl habitat on these lands has decreased considerably over the past two decades, including in geographic areas where Federal lands are lacking. On Federal lands, the Northwest Forest Plan has reduced habitat loss and allowed for the development of new northern spotted owl habitat; however, the combined effects of climate change, high severity wildfire, and past management practices are changing forest ecosystem processes and dynamics, and the expansion of barred owl populations is altering the capacity of intact habitat to support northern spotted owls.”

“Based on our review of the best available scientific and commercial information pertaining to the factors affecting the northern spotted owl, we find that the stressors acting on the subspecies and its habitat, particularly rangewide competition from the nonnative barred owl and high-severity wildfire, are of such imminence, intensity, and magnitude to indicate that the northern spotted owl is now in danger of extinction throughout all of its range. Our status review indicates that the northern spotted owl meets the definition of an endangered species. Therefore, in accordance with sections 3(6) and 4(a)(1) of the Act, we find that listing the northern spotted owl as an endangered species is warranted throughout all of its range. However, work on a reclassification for the northern spotted owl has been, and continues to be, precluded by work on higher-priority actions—which includes listing actions with statutory, court-ordered, or court approved deadlines and final listing determinations.”

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Contact:
Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands, 314-482-3746, nick@cascwild.org

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.

Recovery plans are important tools required by the Endangered Species Act, often referred to as the “roadmap” for conservation because they spell out what the agency needs to do to recover a species and how best to do it. Recovery plans also include metrics that must be met before the Service may deem a species recovered.

In 2013, conservation organizations sued the Service for failing to prepare a recovery plan for threatened lynx, following nearly 14 years of delay. The court agreed and directed the agency to prepare a recovery plan by January 2018.

A month before the January 2018 deadline, however, the Service decided to forgo preparing a recovery plan on the theory that lynx are already “recovered” and no longer threatened in the contiguous U.S. The Service said it would therefore focus its time and energy on delisting and removing protections for the species, rather than recovery planning.

“The Trump Administration is playing political games with iconic species that are in serious risk of extinction,” said Nick Cady with Cascadia Wildlands. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s own scientists determined lynx were not recovered and that proactive efforts are needed to curb significant, ongoing habitat loss from climate change and related warming and longer fire seasons. The conservation of endangered species used to enjoy widespread bipartisan support, and recovery decisions were rooted in science.  It looks like nothing is sacred anymore, and lynx are one of many species paying the price.”

Background

Lynx and their habitat are threatened by climate change, wildfires, logging, development, motorized access and trapping, which disturb and fragment the landscape. Lynx rely heavily on snowshoe hare, and like their preferred prey, are specially adapted to living in mature boreal forests with dense cover and deep snowpack. Climate change may also increase hare predation from other species, resulting in increased competition and displacement of lynx.

Since designating Canada lynx as threatened under the Endangered Species Act 20 years ago in 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has gone to extraordinary lengths to deny protections to the big cat. The agency had to be sued to list the species, amend the species’ listing status (to cover all of its range in the contiguous United States), prepare a recovery plan, and to designate critical habitat. WELC litigation prompted many of these actions.

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The post Missing lynx: Advocates challenge Feds’ refusal to prepare recovery plan first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contact
Nick Cady, Legal Director, Cascadia Wildlands, 314.482.3746, nick@cascwild.org
Doug Heiken, Oregon Wild, 541-344-0675, dh@oregonwild.org 

Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild File Legal Challenge Against the Thurston Hills Timber Sale
Litigation comes as BLM refuses to alter timber sale despite Court rebuke for wildfire risk and logging proposed trail system

Springfield, OR | — 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.

“There is simply no rational reason to log this area. It is already sensitive to wildfire, and it is a designated recreation area, specifically set aside for the proposed trails. The trail building is not tied to the logging in any way, the BLM should just build these trails now,” said Nick Cady, Legal Director of Cascadia Wildlands. 

“Parts of this forest have never been logged and they deserve to be protected.” said Doug Heiken of Oregon Wild. “Proceeding with the Thurston Hills project, in defiance of a court order, is an extension of the Trump administration’s contempt for the rule of law, and disregard for anyone that is not a campaign donor or political crony.”

With 79th Street in Springfield on one side and newly constructed trails on the other, this BLM parcel is among the the closest federal forest land to the Springfield-Eugene urban area and an invaluable recreation area for local residents. The timber sale would result in extensive “regeneration harvest” (all but clear-cutting) of 109 acres of forest immediately adjacent to Willamalane’s recently opened 655-acre Thurston Hills Natural Area and near numerous residences who access their homes along the same road where logging will occur. 

“As a 20-year resident of Thurston Hills, I deeply oppose the Thurston Hills timber sale primarily due to the associated wildfire dangers,” said Ronna Frank, who lives on 71st Street blocks from the proposed logging. “My friends and neighbors tried to raise these issues to the BLM, and they said it was our problem and completely dismissed us. I could not believe it. These forests have been our backyards for decades.” 

“The lack of notice is troubling,” said Amy Sherwood, a Thurston Hills resident and small business owner. “Throughout this entire process, the BLM and Seneca have shown a detached indifference for the rights and concerns of landowners and community members.”

This project will increase wildfire danger to the adjoining Springfield residences, and convert the area into a permanent commercial tree farm for repeated logging. Not only is this project a threat to community safety, but would also have dramatic impacts on recreation. The BLM has designated areas for trails, but plans to log directly over them, likely preventing the area from becoming the regional running and mountain biking destination that was envisioned and planned for by the cities of Springfield and Eugene.  

“Mountain biking trails near Eugene and Springfield are pretty limited. We were really excited to get new, natural single-track trails through mature forests in Thurston Hills, it allows us to get some really fun riding in on a weekday or weekend. ” said Ian Petersen, local mountain biker and owner of Map Your Adventure. “My business is making maps of popular, regional climbs, rides, and runs. Mature forests slow erosion during the rainy months and provide shade when it’s hot. If the area is logged, the trails will have to be graveled to stop erosion in the winter, and the sun will fry riders like a couple eggs come summer. Gravel trails are much less fun to ride than the dirt trails that are currently in Thurston. No one will be excited about more hot, gravel logging roads through stump fields, plenty of that already over in Bend.”

Many public officials have voiced their opposition to this project, including Lane County Commissioners Joe Berney, and Pete Sorenson.

“I oppose the Thurston Hills timber sale as it stands because it puts community members at increased risk of wildfire unnecessarily,” said Sorenson in a statement. “This is the closest federal land to the Eugene/Springfield area and as such should be preserved for community resilience and recreation, not cut down for timber revenue.” 

Learn about Thurston Hills timber sale here.
Read more about the previous campaign here. Find photographs of the sale here. Read the BLM’s EA here. Read the decision here.

Cascadia Wildlands is a Eugene-based nonprofit working to defend and restore Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets.

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

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The battle to save this public land continues!
Read the legal complaint here.

The post Press Release: Legal Action Taken to Halt Thurston Hills Logging in Springfield, OR first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

For Immediate Release
May 11, 2020

Contact
Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands Legal Director
(314) 482-3746, nick@cascwild.org

Legal Petition Seeks New Rules to Reduce Washington Wolf-killing

SEATTLE — 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.

“Washington’s trigger-happy wolf program favors livestock owners and ignores sound science,” said Sophia Ressler, a Washington-based staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s a broken system. Enforceable rules would make wildlife officials accountable and give us a clear understanding of how and why they decide to kill wolves.”

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife currently uses its “Wolf-Livestock Interaction Protocol” to decide when to kill wolves. These rules are a product of the department’s negotiations with the Wolf Advisory Group (WAG), whose members are hand-picked by the department.

Today’s petition urges the wildlife commission to amend its rules to require that livestock producers use appropriate non-lethal deterrence methods to prevent conflict between livestock and wolves. The new rules would ensure that the state kills wolves only as a last resort.

The petition also proposes additional safeguards in areas where there have been repeated conflicts, such as in the Kettle River Range. Of the 31 wolves killed by the state since 2012, 26 were shot in the Kettle River Range on behalf of the same livestock operator. “Wolf pack after wolf pack has been slaughtered in the Kettle River Range, but wolves keep coming back,” said Ressler. “It’s a horrendous example of the futility of Washington’s wolf policies.”

According to the state’s recently released annual wolf report, a new pack has already established itself in the same area where the department killed the entire Old Profanity Territory pack in August of 2019 and where it wiped out the Sherman pack in 2017 and the Profanity Peak pack in 2016.

The petitioning groups do not agree with, or condone, killing Washington’s endangered wolves to protect livestock. “We chose to propose rules to work within the department’s flawed framework, but we hope their amendments strengthen the current management and stop the senseless slaughter of this state-endangered species,” Ressler said.

The commission has 60 days to respond to the petition for rulemaking. If it’s denied conservationists may appeal the decision to Gov. Jay Inslee, who has told the department that repeated killing of wolves in the same area is “simply unacceptable.” If the petition is granted, the commission would open a comment period to seek public input on the new rules.

“Putting in place enforceable guidelines for when the state uses public funds to kill wolves is simply a no-brainer,” said Nick Cady, legal director of Cascadia Wildlands. “This rule creates a reliable and predictable response from the agency that will work to reduce conflict surrounding the issue and guarantees wolves are not being killed at a rate that stagnates ongoing wolf recovery.”

Both the commission and the WAG have continued to meet on a virtual platform throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. The commission adopted new cougar-hunting regulations at its April meeting, and the WAG continued its discussions on potential updates for the wolf-livestock interaction protocol at a meeting on April 30.

“Washington is better than this wolf management mess,” said Samantha Bruegger, wildlife coexistence campaigner, WildEarth Guardians. “The Wolf Advisory Group isn’t improving wolf-livestock protocols, the Forest Service isn’t improving wolf-livestock protocols, and the grazing season has already begun. Meanwhile, stock growers are knocking on the door demanding to collar more wolves. This has to stop. It is time to manage wolves in a way that is reflective of Washington’s values and the best available science.”

“Livestock grazing on public lands can’t be a death sentence for Washington’s native wolves,” said Jocelyn Leroux, Washington and Montana director, Western Watersheds Project. “If commercial livestock use on Washington’s public lands is not compatible with healthy, native ecosystems, the burden should not be on native wildlife to adapt.”

Today’s petition was filed by Cascadia Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity, Western Watersheds Project, and WildEarth Guardians.

Cascadia Wildlands 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.
Check us out at www.cascwild.org

The post Press Release: Legal Petition Filed to Regulate Washington Wolf-killing first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.