Contacts:
Nick Cady, Legal Director, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463 
Michael Dotson, Executive Director, KS Wild
Doug Heiken, Conservation and Restoration Coordinator, Oregon Wild

Medford, OR —Today a coalition of conservation organizations again filed a legal complaint challenging the Medford District Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) efforts to aggressively log forest stands located outside of Gold Hill, Oregon. The Rogue Gold Forest Management Project (“Rogue Gold”) authorizes heavy commercial logging within Late Successional Reserves, areas expressly set aside for old forest conservation. The BLM is targeting mature and old-growth forests that are fire-resilient and provide important habitat for at-risk wildlife species. BLM admits that the purpose of the heavier logging prescriptions being authorized is the generation of commercial timber volume despite locating these logging activities within areas set aside for conservation, called Late Successional Reserves.

In April of last year, conservation organizations previously challenged Medford BLM’s authorization of the Integrated Vegetation Management Project, which also called for heavy commercial logging in the Late-Successional Reserves. In the Rogue Gold project, BLM again proposes to implement the same heavy logging in the reserves but has since dropped the pretense that its more aggressive logging prescriptions would be beneficial for wildlife and fire, and admitted the purpose of the logging is to generate commercial timber volume.

“With IVM, BLM previously argued that this heavy commercial logging would be good for owls and fire safety for the surrounding community. The public, scientific organizations, and numerous conservation organizations vehemently disagreed and challenged that project,” said George Sexton, KS Wild Conservation Director. “While it is refreshing that BLM has abandoned this fake pretense and admitted that it is timber volume driving the more aggressive logging being proposed, it is does not make this logging any less illegal or worrisome.”

“BLM acknowledges that its logging will make fire issues worse for Oregon communities, degrade habitat and water quality, and remove some of the limited older forest we have left, but BLM has also long argued that its hands were tied by the Oregon & California Railroad Act from 1937,” said Nick Cady, Legal Director for Cascadia Wildlands. “Two appeal courts rejected this position last year, and just this Monday the Supreme Court declined to review that decision. BLM clearly has the discretion to manage these forests in the public interest. BLM needs to turn a new leaf and take its obligations to our communities seriously.”

The forests being targeted for logging in the Rogue Gold project are backyard forests for the Gold Hill and Rogue River communities. These areas are resilient, healthy, older forests that are designated as reserves for conservation, recreation, and water protection. While some aspects of the Rogue Gold project include restoration logging and prescribed burning, elements that could increase fire resilience of the area, Plaintiffs have narrowly focused their legal challenge on the heaviest of the commercial logging proposed by BLM, which will have negative consequences for fire resilience and protecting reserve values.

“Where the BLM is interested in real restoration, we are fully supportive,” stated Doug Heiken, Conservation and Restoration Coordinator for Oregon Wild, “but aggressively logging mature and old-growth habitat in the Late Successional Reserves that will increase fire hazard for the surrounding community is a very poor choice of priorities.”

The parties are represented by attorneys with Crag Law Center and Cascadia Wildlands.

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Additional photos of the Rogue Gold timber sale can be found here and are to be credited to Cascadia Wildlands.

The post Press Release: Groups Challenge BLM Commercial Logging in Conservation Reserve first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contact:
Grace Brahler, Cascadia Wildlands, 541-393-8178, grace@cascwild.org 

The Oregon Board of Forestry made a historic decision to move forward with a Habitat Conservation Plan for 640,000 acres of western Oregon state forests at its March 7th meeting in Salem. Voting 4-3 in favor of directing Oregon Department of Forestry to move forward with the draft Habitat Conservation Plan, the agency will now finalize the plan to establish a network of habitat and riparian conservation areas across roughly 300,000 acres of state forests and await federal approval. The department will also continue developing a new Forest Management Plan to guide implementation of the Habitat Conservation Plan.  

Cascadia Wildlands, a Eugene-based non-profit conservation organization that works to defend and restore Cascadia’s wild ecosystems, has expressed consistent support for securing a strong Habitat Conservation Plan for western Oregon’s state forests for years.  

“In the midst of worsening climate change and biodiversity loss crises, we are pleased to see the Department of Forestry renew its commitment to species conservation and clean water protection,” said Grace Brahler, Wildlands Director with Cascadia Wildlands. “We thank the Board for moving forward with a strong Habitat Conservation Plan for western Oregon’s state forests that will ensure Oregonians can enjoy these cherished public lands for generations to come.”  

The vote follows a recommendation from Oregon State Forester Cal Mukumoto to proceed with the Habitat Conservation Plan without further delay. State Forester Mukumoto made this recommendation following years of public testimony and a recent series of listening sessions where community members from across Oregon spoke in support of strong conservation measures to protect clean water, fish and wildlife habitat and recreation on state-managed public forests.  

Cascadia Wildlands will continue to seek alternative and stable funding sources for rural counties where logging revenue may be affected by the Habitat Conservation Plan.  

Representing 12,000 members and supporters across the country, Cascadia Wildlands envisions vast old-growth forests, a stable climate, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry and vibrant, diverse communities sustained by the unique landscapes of the Cascadia bioregion.  

*A high-resolution photo is available for download here for press use. Community members stand up for a strong conservation plan for state forests (photo by Robert Sherle).

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The post Press Release: Cascadia Wildlands Statement on Board of Forestry Decision to Advance a Habitat Conservation Plan for Western Oregon State Forests first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Eugene, OR — Today, conservation groups challenged a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) logging project that would clearcut mature and old-growth forests and degrade protected wildlife habitat for endangered species. The Big Weekly Elk logging sale, proposed by the BLM’s Coos Bay District, includes logging over 3,500 acres of forest, including areas supposed to be set aside to protect marbled murrelets. 

“This area consists of designated reserves set aside to provide old-forest habitat for imperiled species,” said Nick Cady, Legal Director with Cascadia Wildlands. “But the agency is now proposing to heavily log these areas to meet internally generated timber targets and did not even consider the impacts this logging would have on these species.” 

The BLM’s 2016 Resource Management Plan outlines requirements to protect marbled murrelets and northern spotted owls. Big Weekly Elk ignores these rules, logging and building roads through 55 known marbled murrelet sites and threatening five known northern spotted owl nesting sites. Despite the presence of these vulnerable species, the BLM refused to conduct an analysis of how the logging project would impact murrelets or owls.

“Mature and old-growth forests like those the BLM is proposing to log here are vital, not just for endangered species and clean drinking water, but also for capturing and storing carbon to fight climate change,” said John Persell, Staff Attorney for Oregon Wild. “The BLM needs to do its job, what it is legally required to do, not just blindly log and clearcut our public lands.”

The lawsuit asserts the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to complete a detailed environmental impact statement for Big Weekly Elk, and by failing to take the requisite “hard look” at impacts to endangered species habitat, carbon storage, and a host of other environmental values. The project is surrounded by private lands logging, as well as the BLM’s own Coos Bay Landscape Management Project, which together have already decimated the forest cover in the region, yet the BLM took none of these activities into account in its determination that its logging will have no impact. The areas targeted by the BLM are some of the last intact forest stands in the area.

“This area has already been hammered by private and BLM clearcuts,” said Madeline Cowen, Grassroots and Digital Organizer for Cascadia Wildlands. “Now they’re going after what’s left, and they’re not going to let anything get in the way, including their own rules.”

In proposing to log mature and old-growth forest stands, Big Weekly Elk also contradicts President Biden’s 2022 Executive Order to protect mature and old-growth forests as a natural climate solution. In March, the BLM announced its wide-ranging “Conservation and Landscape Health” rule, with a goal to “promote ecosystem resilience on public lands” and included an acknowledgment of the importance of mature and old-growth trees and forests. The agency concluded a public comment period for proposed rulemaking in July, with hundreds of thousands of people calling on the federal government to protect mature and old-growth trees and forests from logging. 

“Big Weekly Elk includes logging mature and old-growth forests, the very forests that are the most effective tools available for mitigating climate change and promoting biodiversity,” said Victoria Wingell, Forests and Climate Campaigner for Oregon Wild. “They store huge amounts of carbon and keep it out of the atmosphere. As the world experiences record-shattering heat and widespread climate disasters, protecting these forests is critical for preventing the worst impacts of climate change.”

The post Press Release: Conservationists Challenge BLM Clearcut of Endangered Species Habitat first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contacts:
Bethany Cotton, Conservation Director, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463

BEND, Oregon —Today at a hearing in Bend, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted unanimously to prohibit wildlife killing contests for coyotes and other species classified as unprotected mammals in the state. A coalition of 22 local and national wildlife and conservation organizations and hunters, wildlife management professionals, scientists, veterinarians, and advocates across Oregon submitted testimony in support.

“We are overjoyed that cruel, unsporting wildlife killing contests will never again occur on public lands in Oregon,” said Bethany Cotton, conservation director with Cascadia Wildlands. “We thank ODFW staff and Commissioners for recognizing that killing contests violate the agency’s mission to manage wildlife in trust for present and future generations.”

In wildlife killing contests participants compete for cash and prizes to kill the most, the largest and the smallest coyotes and other vital wildlife within a specified time period.

More scientific studies find that these contests do not reduce coyote numbers or prevent conflicts with livestock, and may even increase them. Instead, more economical and effective methods are available to help Oregon farmers coexist with native wildlife.

“Wildlife killing contests are abhorred by the Oregon public and have no place in our state,” said Kelly Peterson, Oregon state director for the Humane Society of the United States. “Engaging in wanton waste of a native wildlife species as part of a contest for prizes is abhorrent and we are grateful that the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to end these cruel, gruesome competitions.”

Organizations that supported the proposed rule included the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Welfare Institute, Bitterbrush Broads & Bros Leadership Team, Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity, Central Oregon LandWatch, Endangered Species Coalition, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, Humane Voters Oregon, Lark Ranch Rescue and Rehabilitation, National Wolfwatcher Coalition, Northeast Oregon Ecosystems, Oregon Humane Society, Oregon Wild, Portland Audubon, Predator Defense, Project Coyote, Think Wild, Western Environmental Law Center, Western Watersheds Project and the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust.

Oregon becomes the ninth state to ban wildlife killing contests, following Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington. In June, the New York state legislature passed a bill to end wildlife killing contests. The legislation now awaits the governor’s signature.

Background

• Mike Finley, the former chair of the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, testified at today’s hearing. A hunter himself, Finley condemns killing contests, explaining that “killing large numbers of predators as part of an organized contest is inconsistent with science-based wildlife management and antithetical to the concepts of sportsmanship and fair chase.”
• Competitors achieve high kill numbers by using night vision, thermal imaging and electronic calling devices that mimic sounds of dependent young or prey in distress to lure animals in for an easy kill. Animals are then gunned down with high-powered rifles that rip holes in the fur, rendering the pelts useless for sale.
• Hunters and wildlife management professionals across the U.S. have called out killing contests as unethical and warned they are damaging the reputation of hunters and threatening the future of hunting.
• A review of the scientific literature, published in Oregon Small Farm News, found that indiscriminate killing of coyotes will not reduce their numbers or prevent conflicts with farm animals. In fact, killing contests can increase coyote populations and conflicts by disrupting the coyote pack structure.

Learn more about wildlife killing contests.

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The post Breaking: Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission ends wildlife killing contests on Oregon’s public lands first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contacts:
Nick Cady, Legal Director, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463
George Sexton, Conservation Director, KS Wild
Meriel Darzen, Attorney, Crag Law Center
Doug Heiken, Conservation and Restoration Coordinator, Oregon Wild

Medford, Oregon — Today a coalition of conservation organizations filed a legal complaint challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) “Integrated Vegetation Management” (IVM) program that would aggressively log forest stands located within Late Successional Reserves, areas purportedly set aside for forest conservation. In particular, IVM authorizes so-called “gap creation” and “open seral” logging prescriptions within mature and old-growth forests that are fire-resilient and provide important habitat at-risk wildlife species.

“BLM timber planners can dance around it all they want,” said George Sexton, KS Wild Conservation Director, “but it’s crystal clear that gap creation logging creates clearcuts that remove habitat and increase fire hazard.”

The first commercial IVM logging project called Penn Butte is scheduled to be auctioned off in late May. Penn Butte is located in the Williams Late Successional Reserve and would remove over 400-acres of old-growth habitat through “open seral” logging and another 51 acres through “gap creation” clearcutting.

“The BLM sidestepped its procedural duties and cut the public out of the process when it decided to approve thousands of acres of large tree logging without explaining where the logging will occur and how it would affect existing forests in the short and long-term” stated Crag attorney Meriel Darzen. “This is particularly egregious where these particular forests were set aside by the agency itself as reserve lands with the goal of protecting habitat.”

The US Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Opinion for Penn Butte concluded that the proposed old-growth logging is “likely to adversely affect” spotted owls and their designated critical habitat.

“The forests targeted for removal in Penn Butte are resilient, healthy, and most important they are designated as reserves for conservation, not timber supply,” said Doug Heiken, Conservation and Restoration Coordinator for Oregon Wild. “If we want to store carbon and provide habitat this is the place for careful conservation, not aggressive logging.”

“If the BLM is interested in real fire-focused restoration, we would be fully supportive,” stated Cascadia Wildlands Legal Director Nick Cady, “but aggressively logging wildlife habitat in the Late Successional Reserves that will increase fire hazard for the surrounding community is ridiculous. It demonstrates that this agency does not care what this community has been through and is only concerned with producing timber volume.”

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The post Press Release: Legal Challenge to BLM’s Late Successional Reserve Logging Scheme first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contacts:
Madeline Cowen, Grassroots Organizer, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463
Victoria Wingell, Forests and Climate Campaigner, Oregon Wild
Eric Schiff, local resident, McKenzie River

Climate and forest activists gathered for a flotilla on the McKenzie River to bring attention to the Flat Country old-growth logging sale in the Willamette National Forest 

Leaburg, OREGON — Today, a “kayaktivist” flotilla of over 100 concerned community members rallied on the McKenzie River to protest an old-growth logging sale in the Willamette National Forest. The Flat Country project, proposed by the U.S. Forest Service, targets over 2,000 acres of old-growth and mature forests for logging across the headwaters of the McKenzie River. The agency could auction the old growth to be cut at any moment. Attendees held up signs from boats and kayaks, and unfurled a large banner declaring “Forest Defense is Watershed Defense”, to draw attention to the logging sale’s impact on downstream drinking water.

VIDEO AND PHOTOS FROM THE FLOTILLA EVENT & LOGGING SALE
Available for media use

Guided hikes of the Flat Country logging sale available to reporters upon request.

At the event, protestors called on the Willamette National Forest and the Biden administration to drop the Flat Country old-growth logging sale in light of the significant impacts it would have on climate, wildlife habitat, and community safety. The project also encompasses the headwaters of the McKenzie River, the source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people in the area. The sale is also opposed by Congressman Peter DeFazio and leading forest ecologists Jerry Franklin and Norm Johnson. 

“We haven’t seen a logging project like this in years, and there’s a good reason why,” said Cascadia Wildlands organizer Madeline Cowen. “When you log places like Flat Country, you’re making the area more susceptible to fire and drought. You’re impacting the entire downstream community that relies on this forest.”

Eric Schiff, local resident on the McKenzie River said: “In 2020, we lost our home to the Holiday Farm wildfire. Now just a few years later with the Flat Country timber sale, it is unfathomable that the Forest Service is still proposing old growth clearcut logging in the McKenzie River watershed. Our community relies on the McKenzie River for our drinking water, recreation, fisheries and our livelihood. It is critical that policymakers do everything that they can to protect this invaluable resource and iconic river.” 

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14072 on Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies, which directs his administration to create stronger protections for public forests in an effort to mitigate the climate crisis. Despite this Executive Order, Willamette National Forest is moving forward with the timber sale which threatens thousands of acres of old-growth and mature forest in the McKenzie Watershed, the very types of forests the Executive Order was meant to safeguard. 

“The Flat Country sale aims to cut down some of Oregon’s last remaining,  biggest and oldest trees— precisely the ones we need to keep growing and storing carbon,” said Oregon Wild organizer Victoria Wingell. “Forests like these are already the best wildlife habitat, the best climate mitigation, and the most resilient against wildfire. We need to act now before we lose them for a lifetime.”

The Flat Country logging sale has been identified by the national Climate Forests Campaign as one of the most egregious examples of mature and old-growth federal logging projects set to take place despite President Biden’s Earth Day executive order to protect them. 

The McKenzie River Flotilla is the first in a series of rallies organized by the Climate Forests Campaign to take place across the country in the lead-up to COP 27. This coalition, made up of over 100 groups including Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, EarthJustice, and Center for Biological Diversity, are calling on the Biden administration to establish a rule that protects mature and old-growth forests on federal lands from logging as part of the United States’ international commitments to address impacts of climate change.

The recruiting, training, and capacity building for this event is in part supported by the Climate Emergency Fund, which strategically supports ultra-ambitious organizations demanding solutions to the climate crisis at emergency speed. 

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Oregon Wild works to protect and restore Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and waters as an enduring legacy for future generations. Founded in 1974, Oregon Wild represents the fish and wildlife, ancient forests, and rich diversity of public lands and landscapes that make this state so special.

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 post Press Release: Over 100 “Kayaktivists” and Community Members Protest Old-Growth Logging 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:
Bethany Cotton, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463
Danny Noonan, Breach Collective

EUGENE, OREGON — In a major step toward a clean energy future, the Eugene City Council voted today to move forward with a suite of measures advancing the transition off of gas in homes and buildings. The motions include one directing staff to draft ordinance language to mandate that all new homes be constructed 100% electric by June 1, 2023; a second advancing conversations to transition new commercial and industrial construction to require all electric; and a third directing the City Manager to formalize Eugene’s goal of electrifying all existing residential and commercial buildings by 2035.

“The first step when you are in a hole is to stop digging. As the consequences of climate change bear down on our state, it has never been more clear that we cannot afford to expand the use of fossil fuels by connecting new homes to the gas system. Eugene’s vote today brings us one step closer to the clean energy future for homes we urgently need,” said Dylan Plummer, senior campaign representative with the Sierra Club.

The votes come as the city of Eugene swelters in triple digit temperatures this week – the latest climate-fueled heat wave to strike the Northwest, where access to cooling in homes remains low. In addition to cutting climate pollution, electrifying homes using highly-efficient electric appliances like heat pumps, which provide affordable cooling, will also boost household resilience in the face of extreme heat.

“The urgency of acting on climate could not be more clear: our communities are experiencing the impacts of climate inaction now: sweltering heat and high wildfire risk, along with the indoor air pollution related health impacts of continued reliance on dirty, dangerous fossil fuels,” said Bethany Cotton, conservation director with Cascadia Wildlands. “Eugene has an ambitious climate plan, but heretofore has not done enough to enliven that document. We applaud the council for moving these resolutions forward and look forward to them finalizing the ordinances this fall.” 

In addition to voting to advance ambitious targets for electrifying homes and buildings, the City Council also voted to direct the City Manager to return to the city with a public engagement plan regarding the transition of existing buildings to all electric, focused on social, environmental and economic equity. To effectively serve the low-income communities and communities of color that are most burdened by fossil fuel pollution, high energy bills, and climate crisis, Eugene’s policy framework for transitioning existing homes to run on 100% clean energy must be developed in partnership with local community leaders.

“Transitioning homes in Eugene off of fossil fuels in favor of clean energy can advance public health, racial, and income justice. We look forward to partnering with the city in developing a policy framework that will ensure low-income communities and communities of color are prioritized in the transition to healthier homes, and not left behind,” said Eloise Navarro, environmental climate justice coordinator with the Eugene/Springfield NAACP.

Eugene’s vote directing staff to draft ordinance language phasing out gas in new homes and buildings follows months of community engagement and workshops — during which NW Natural, the gas utility serving the city, sought to derail the policy, despite the health, climate and economic benefits. In recent testimony from the utility in an ongoing rate case surrounding its proposed 11.8% rate hike for residential customers, the utility affirmed its intent to bill utility customers for staff time spent fighting Eugene’s climate policy for new homes.

“The Eugene City Council has been subjected to months of fossil fuel industry manipulation tactics from NW Natural. Today, the Council listened to the hundreds of community members who testified and emailed them supporting a just transition and proved that they will not back down from delivering on healthy and climate-resilient homes for their constituents,” said Aya Cockram, coalition coordinator with Fossil Free Eugene.

“After months of intense lobbying, advertising and other scare tactics by one of Oregon’s largest fossil fuel corporations, it is relieving to see Eugene City Council hold firm and continue on the path towards building electrification. Electrifying new residential buildings is the low-hanging fruit, and we now have a clear timeline for making that happen. But it is encouraging that Council also signaled their commitment to taking on the challenge of electrifying new commercial buildings and our existing building stock,” said Danny Noonan, climate and energy strategist with Breach Collective.

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The post Press Release: Eugene City Council Advances Policy to Transition New Construction to All-Electric, Sets Ambitious Targets for Decarbonizing Existing Buildings first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contacts:
Bethany Cotton, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463
Matthew Bishop, Western Environmental Law Center
Mike Garrity, Alliance for the Wild Rockies
Sarah McMillan, WildEarth Guardians

Today, a federal judge invalidated a Trump administration decision denying protections to imperiled wolverines under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (original complaint here). This is the second time a court has rejected a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to deny protections for wolverines, which number only about 300 in the contiguous U.S. Today’s court order immediately reinstates wolverines’ “candidate” status as a species proposed for listing.

“We are hoping this time is the charm and the Fish and Wildlife Service will follow the courts’ directives to rely on the best available climate science to make the right call to protect wolverines in the lower 48 states,” said Matthew Bishop, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center. “With climate change quickly shrinking the snowy habitat wolverines rely on to survive, there is no time for politics and further delays.”

The groups in today’s court victory defeated the Service in court in 2016, forcing the agency back to the drawing board with a directive to apply the best science. Four years later, the Service returned with the same decision to deny wolverine protective status, despite no new scientific support for such a determination.

“The science and the law could not be more clear: Wolverine are deserving of the protections of the Endangered Species Act,” said Bethany Cotton, conservation director with Cascadia Wildlands. “It’s long past time for the Fish and Wildlife Service to do its job and afford this iconic climate-impacted species with the best safeguards available.”

Wolverine rely on snow year-round. With their large paws, wolverine can travel easily over snow, and often rely on deep snow for hunting and for denning and rearing of young. Snow is also a “freezer” that permits the wolverine to store and scavenge food. One study found 98% of all wolverine den sites in places with persistent late spring snowpack.

“I hope the Biden administration will now quit defending the Trump administration decision that wolverines do not deserve to be protected from extinction now that a federal district court has now ruled that it was illegal,” said Mike Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. “We need to work toward keeping wolverines from going extinct instead of continuing to drive them to extinction.”

“Wolverines are trapped on the merry-go-round of extinction and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service needs to put them on the path toward recovery by protecting them under the Endangered Species Act.” said Sarah McMillan, WildEarth Guardians’ senior advisor based in Missoula, Montana. “It’s profoundly disappointing that as the extinction crisis escalates, the Biden administration has chosen to defend the Trump administration, rather than this climate-imperiled species.”

“The wolverine is dependent on snow for its survival is the canary in the coal mine with regards to climate change,” said ecologist George Wuerthner. “If the wolverine can no longer survive in the lower 48 states, it indicates that we are not doing enough to halt and reverse global warming.”

The victorious organizations include WildEarth Guardians, Friends Of The Bitterroot, Friends Of The Wild Swan, Swan View Coalition, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands, Alliance For The Wild Rockies, Cottonwood Environmental Law Center, George Wuerthner, Footloose Montana, Native Ecosystems Council, Wildlands Network, Helena Hunters and Anglers Association. They were represented by attorneys with the Western Environmental Law Center.

Background:
Wolverines number just 250-300 individuals in the contiguous U.S. and are dependent on high elevation habitat with deep winter snows. 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 was challenged in court resulting in a settlement that led to a new finding that wolverines should be protected under the ESA, 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 ESA. 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. In October 2020, the Service again decided not to list. The groups in today’s victory filed their challenge in December 2020.

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The post Press Release: Court again forces feds to reconsider wolverine protections, this time using science 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.