January 2, 2013 — Conservationists today filed a Notice of Intent to challenge an old-growth logging sale on the doorstep of iconic Crater Lake National Park. The Umpqua National Forest is offering the sale as part of a massive proposal to log forests bordering the park, including some of the state’s most popular recreation areas around Lemolo and Diamond Lakes. Conservationists are expressing concern the Forest Service is violating laws designed to protect rare and vulnerable wildlife which also call the area home.
Press Release: Lawsuit Filed to Protect Threatened North Oregon Coast Red Tree Vole
September 26, 2012 — Three conservation organizations filed a legal challenge today to halt the controversial Rickard Creek timber sale on Salem Bureau of Land Management lands southwest of Corvallis, Oregon. Cascadia Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity and Benton Forest Coalition assert the BLM failed to protect habitat for the threatened red tree vole in violation of the Northwest Forest Plan and National Forest Management Act. The timber sale would clearcut 92 acres and thin 19 acres of mature forests in the Marys River watershed.
Press Release: Big Timber Manufactures Timber Volume Crisis in Western Oregon
June 21, 2012 — With a new plan for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forests in western Oregon currently in the works, conservationists today pointed to new harvest data from the agency that shows a steady flow of timber is moving off of federal forest lands. The official numbers contradict claims made by timber industry lobbyists and local politicians that little logging is occurring on BLM and National Forest lands.
Public Forests: More information
The Northwest has less than 20% of its original forests remaining after decades of intense industrial logging. The Oregon Coast Range has been hit particularly hard and has lost approximately 95% of its original forests. Every year, our government sells publicly owned tracks of older forest to private timber corporations. National Forests managed by … Continue reading Public Forests: More information