Contacts:
Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands, nick@cascwild.org, (541) 434-1463
Meriel Darzen, Crag Law Center, meriel@crag.org
Doug Heiken, Oregon Wild, dh@oregonwild.org

Judge Halts Post-Fire Logging near Breitenbush

Forest Service Unlawfully Changed Logging Contracts Following 2020 Wildfires

Eugene, OR — Today, a federal judge enjoined post-fire logging on the Willamette National Forest near Detroit Lake and Breitenbush hot springs. The Forest Service was converting previously approved restorative thinning projects into post-fire clearcuts without any public notice or environmental review, despite the significant new information and conditions created by the fires.

IMAGES FOR MEDIA USE

“Oregon’s response to these fires needs to include the public, be forward-looking, and designed to protect and restore our treasured forested areas, instead of knee-jerk efforts to generate as much timber volume as possible,” said Nick Cady of Cascadia Wildlands. “It is heartening to hear the Court explicitly recognize and emphasize this approach.”

Conservation groups Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild learned the Forest Service had changed the terms of timber sales pre-dating the fires in late spring 2021 because members of the organizations discovered clearcutting in areas that were supposed to be restoration thinning projects. The organizations had participated in the public process shaping these prior projects, but were not informed about the agency’s dramatic shift. Documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act revealed that the contract changes were not limited to the areas in the lower McKenzie River watershed adjacent to highway 19 near Cougar Reservoir, but in fact were occurring across the Willamette National Forest, including in areas near the beloved Breitenbush hot springs. The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to consider significant new information, such as large forest fires and the risks and tradeoffs associated with logging in these sensitive post-fire areas.

“Both the catastrophic 2020 fires and the Forest Service’s decision to implement ‘salvage’ where it was originally going to do selective thinning and burning were significant changes that required new analysis and public involvement,” said Meriel Darzen of the Crag Law Center, one of the attorneys for the conservation groups. “Cascadia and Oregon Wild were heavily invested in these projects and are deeply concerned about the recovery of these areas after the fires; the Forest Service’s backroom decision to log these sensitive recently burned areas with no analysis is harmful to the forest and the communities that are still recovering from the fires.”

Though some of the areas subject to the contract changes were already logged, today’s injunction precludes the Forest Service from moving forward with those that have yet to be cut pending the outcome of the lawsuit. In November, a federal judge enjoined much of the Forest Service’s plans to log along little used forest roads within the 2020 fire perimeter, also for failure to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. These actions highlight a pattern of the Willamette National Forest failing to comply with federal environmental laws designed to ensure the public is included in decision-making on public lands and that agency decisions follow the best available science.   

“Oregon Wild brought this case to defend the simple proposition that when a wildfire burns through an ongoing timber sale, the Forest Service needs to pump the brakes and involve the public in deciding how to move forward,” said Doug Heiken of Oregon Wild. “That’s not just the law, but also the best way to protect our forests, drinking water, wildlife, carbon, and scenic values.”

Logging in recently burned areas does significant environmental harm: introducing invasive species, disturbing sensitive soils, increasing the likelihood of landslides and disturbing wildlife and plant species that coevolved with and depend on wildfires. It can also increase future fire risks and hazards.

Federal Judge Ann Aiken ruled from the bench during today’s hearing, granting conservation organizations’ request for an injunction.  A written ruling is forthcoming. The organization are represented by attorneys at the Crag Law Center and Cascadia Wildlands.

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The post Press Release: Post-fire Logging Halted on the Willamette National Forest 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.

As communities across Oregon continue to rebuild after the 2020 fire season, timber corporations and ill-equipped agencies are clear-cut logging large swaths of fire-burned public lands. Join us Thursday, May 6 at 4:00pm at the Oregon State Capitol – Wilson Park (westside gazebo), 900 Court St. Salem, OR 97301 and tell Governor Brown to put a halt to the reckless post-fire logging.

Industrial logging degrades our public lands and recreation areas, threatens drinking water, endangers firefighters, and places rural communities in further risk of wildfire danger. Sadly, places like the Santiam Canyon, McKenzie and North Umpqua rivers have recently been transformed by rampant post-fire logging. And this is only the beginning of the logging planned.

RALLY WITH US TO PROTECT WHAT’S LEFT!

The post Rally to Protect What’s Left — May 6 first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.