Posts Tagged ‘lawsuit’

Nov27

Judge blocks timber sales over sea bird nesting

November 27, 2013

by Jeff  Barnard, AP Environmental Writer
 
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge has put 11 state forest timber sales on hold while she considers a lawsuit contending they threaten the survival of the marbled murrelet, a protected seabird that nests in old-growth forests.
 
The preliminary injunction issued last week was a blow to the new endangered species conservation policy adopted by the state to produce more timber from state lands.
 
Besides the 11 timber sales, the order covers all stands occupied by murrelets on the Clatsop, Tillamook and Elliot state forests.
 
In issuing the order, U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Eugene wrote that conservation groups have shown they are likely to win the lawsuit on its merits, and leaving the sales open to logging could cause irreparable harm.
 
At issue is whether the state's logging goals on the three forests violate the Endangered Species Act by destroying habitat for the marbled murrelet, a threatened species. The bird lives at sea, but it flies up to 50 miles inland to lay its eggs on the large, mossy branches of mature and old-growth trees.
 
"This ruling should send a signal to the leadership of Oregon that balanced forest plans are critically needed to truly protect the murrelet," Francis Eartherington, conservation director for Cascadia Wildlands, said in a statement. "The state of Oregon's forest practices are the most reckless in the Pacific Northwest and are pushing the marbled murrelet closer to extinction."
 
Earlier this year, the state Department of Forestry withdrew the sales pending the outcome of the lawsuit, and planned instead to offer a smaller number of alternative sales elsewhere.
 
The Oregon Department of Forestry estimated the withdrawal of the 10 sales on the Elliott would cost the Common School Fund $9.85 million in lost income next year. Unlike other state forests, the Elliott is controlled by the State Land Board, with logging proceeds going to the Common School Fund.
 
The 11th sale is on the Tillamook.
 
The state managed the Elliott for years by protecting habitat for threatened and endangered species like the murrelet but scrapped that approach last year after federal biologists refused to approve revisions that allowed more logging. Instead, the state adopted a policy used by private timberland owners that refrains from logging where protected species are actually living.
 
Oregon Department of Forestry spokesman Dan Postrel said the order was expected. He added that a separate order from the judge removing the state Board of Forestry and state Land Board as defendants in the lawsuit suggested that the endangered species conservation policy they adopted may not be held responsible.
 
Jim Geisinger, executive director of the Associated Oregon Loggers, said the loss of the timber was a big blow to nearby timber communities. He added he was disappointed that the judge would block the timber sales on state lands, when the murrelet's habitat needs were supposed to be satisfied entirely on federal lands.
 
Geisinger said the new policy should be preferable, because it prohibited any individuals of a protected species from being killed, while habitat conservation plans allowed some individuals to be killed incidentally.
 

Posted by bob in Featured Case: Marbled Murrelet, In The Media, Save the Elliott Rainforest

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Nov18

Lawsuit Blocks Elliott Logging

The World by Jessie Higgins
November 17, 2012

ELLIOTT STATE FOREST — The state has withdrawn more than 900 acres of planned Elliott State Forest timber sales, pending the outcome of an environmental lawsuit.

The Oregon Department of Forestry instead plans to open 465 acres of alternative logging sites not named in the lawsuit.

'It's certainly nowhere near what was proposed in the annual operating plan," said Kevin Weeks, a spokesman for the Forestry Department. As Elliott logging funds the Common School Fund, Weeks estimates the shift will cost the CSF $9.85 million in revenue in 2013.

The state had already suspended logging on about 800 acres of timberland slated to be clearcut in 2012, said Josh Laughlin, a spokesman for Cascadia Wildlands.

The environmental groups say deferred logging means another year of protection for the endangered marbled murrelet sea bird.

The lawsuit, filed in May by Cascadia Wildlands and several other environmental groups, alleges the state's logging practices violate the Endangered Species Act by killing the sea birds.

'All the current scientific information suggests the sea birds' population is continuing to plummet in this region," Laughlin said. 'Clear cutting of its nesting habitat is a factor. To us, that suggests that public agencies like the Department of Forestry should take stronger measures to ensure their survival."

The suit will be heard by a federal judge sometime next year, Laughlin said.

If the judge decides in favor of the environmental groups, the state would have to drastically adjust its forest management plan.

Cascadia Wildlands hopes the state will pursue a habitat conservation plan, which manages the forest as a whole, allowing logging in certain regions and preserving other regions as habitat for endangered species.

Such a plan must be approved by federal agencies, as it allows the state to log areas where endangered species live. The state managed the Elliott with a habitat conservation plan for years, but scrapped it in 2011 because the National Marine Fisheries Service would not approve the plan, saying it did not adequately protect Coho salmon.

Under the current forest management plan, all areas of the state forest are open to logging so long as no endangered species live in the immediate vicinity. Areas where murlets nest are protected from logging. The method is called 'take avoidance."

Cascadia Wildlands disapproves of this method because it fails to conserve uninterrupted habitat, instead creating a patchwork of logged and unlogged areas.

Reporter Jessie Higgins can be reached at 541-269-1222, ext. 240, or jhiggins@theworldlink.com.

Posted by Josh in Campaign News Updates, Featured Case: Marbled Murrelet, Home Page Hot Topic, In The Media, News, Protect Public Forests, Protecting Forests and Wild Places, Save the Elliott Rainforest, Strategic Litigation, Uncategorized

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Jul09

Timber Firms Join Murrelet Lawsuit

July 9, 2012

The Eugene Register-Guard by Karen McCown 
 
A Eugene lumber company is among forest industry firms intervening in a lawsuit filed in federal court by environmental groups against Gov. John Kitz­haber and state land and forest management agencies.
 
U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken last week granted a request by Eugene-based Seneca Sawmill Co. and four other logging industry entities to join with state officials in defending the state’s plan to allow more logging in the Elliott, Tillamook and Clatsop state forests. All of the forests are in Oregon’s Coast Range.
 
The lawsuit by Eugene-based Cascadia Wildlands and two other environmental groups alleges that additional logging would harm the habitat of the marbled murrelet, amounting to an illegal “taking” of the seabird in violation of the Endangered Species Act.
 
The seabird is federally listed as a threatened species. It lays its eggs on large, mossy branches of primarily old growth trees, according to the complaint filed by Eugene attorney Daniel Kruse and other lawyers.
 
State officials have said they have a “vigorous” forest management plan to protect the murrelet but voluntarily suspended logging on 10 timber sales in the coastal forests until Aiken rules on the environmentalists’ motion for an injunction against logging while the case is being argued.
 
The state protection plan for the birds includes designated buffer zones of protected forest ranging in size from 20 to several hundred acres where murrelet activity is detected. The plan also requires curtailed logging schedules during the birds’ April to September nesting period.
 
The industry groups are expected to help defend the state’s forest policy.
 
Besides Seneca, they include the Oregon Forest Industries Council, Douglas Timber Operators, Scott Timber Co. Inc. of Coquille and Hampton Tree Farms Inc. of Salem. The council represents more than 50 logging and wood products companies, including Seneca and Scott. Other area members of the group include Eugene-based Guistina Land and Timber Co., the Murphy Co. and Eagle’s View Management Co. Inc; Springfield-based Rosboro and Timber Products companies; Starfire Lumber Co. of Cottage Grove; Davidson Industries of Maple­ton; Hull-Oakes Lumber Co. of Monroe; Menasha Forest Products Corp. of North Bend; Plum Creek Timber Co. of Coos Bay and Elkton-­based Rocking C Ranch.
 
Seneca legal affairs director Dale Riddle said Friday that the company decided to intervene individually in the case because it bought one of the contracts that has now been halted, the Millicoma Lookout timber sale, from the Elliott State Forest in Coos County. Under its bid, the company will pay $372.75 per thousand board feet of Doublas fir logged within the 54-acre sale area.
 
A state Forestry Department bid notice described the tract as containing 102- to 145-year-old, second-growth Douglas fir, as well as some red alder and western hemlock. The agency’s biological survey report on the sale noted that it contains “potentially suitable habitat for marbled murrelets.” It also reported 54 sightings of the birds within the tract in 2008 and 41 sightings in 2009.
 
The intervenors have an interest in the case because they rely on timber sales from state and federal agencies and because the public lands case could set a precedent restricting their “use and management” of private lands for timber production, Roseburg attorney Dominic Carollo wrote in their motion to join the suit.
 
Seneca owns and manages about 165,000 acres of Oregon forestland, some located within 50 miles of the Oregon Coast and within the range of the marbled murrelet, Carollo wrote.

Posted by bob in Home Page Hot Topic, In The Media, Save the Elliott Rainforest, Uncategorized

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Jul02

State Suspends State Forest Timber Sales Subject to Federal Lawsuit   

July 2, 2012
KLCC by Rachael McDonald
 
The Oregon Department of Forestry has suspended operations on 10 timber sales. A lawsuit brought by conservation groups says the logging imperils a federally listed seabird.
 
Four conservation groups are suing Oregon to halt timber sales on the Elliot, Clatsop and Tillamook State Forests.
 
Josh Laughlin with Cascadia Wildlands says ODF's current methods are depleting habitat for the Marbled Murrelet, which nests in coastal forests.


 
Laughlin: "Their rampant clearcutting and chemical spraying program is continuing to push this species closer to the brink of extinction."
 

 
Laughlin says these methods are unlawful under the Endangered Species Act. He hopes Federal Judge Ann Aiken will agree. Laughlin says logging can be done in a more careful way so the murrelet's nesting sites are preserved.
 
Kevin Weeks is with ODF. He says the agency is preparing their defense of the lawsuit.
 

 
Weeks: "The Department of Forestry has adopted a rigorous set of wildlife management policies and procedures which include both extensive and intensive surveying for marbled murrelets and where we find those habitat areas extensive site protection measures."
 

 
Laughlin counters that the state leaves only postage-stamp size forest patches around the bird's habitat. The conservation groups have filed a preliminary injunction motion to keep the state from going forward with its logging plans. The hearing will take place in Portland Federal Court in the coming weeks.


 
To listen to the story, click here.
 

Posted by Josh in Campaign News Updates, Home Page Hot Topic, In The Media, Oregon Campaigns, Save the Elliott Rainforest, Uncategorized

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Jul02

Press Release: State of Oregon Suspends 10 State Forest Timber Sales in Marbled Murrelet Habitat

Marbled murrelet (USFWS)

For immediate release
July 2, 2012
 
Contact:
Josh Laughlin, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 844-8182      
Noah Greenwald, Center for Biological Diversity, (503) 484-7495      
Bob Sallinger, Portland Audubon Society, (503) 380-9728      
Tanya Sanerib, Crag Law Center, (503) 525-2722      
 
State of Oregon Suspends 10 State Forest Timber Sales in Marbled Murrelet Habitat
Simultaneously, Conservation Groups File Injunction Request to Safeguard the Threatened Seabird During Lawsuit
 
PORTLAND, Ore.— The State of Oregon has suspended operations on 10 timber sales in marbled murrelet habitat one month after Cascadia Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Audubon Society of Portland filed a lawsuit alleging the state’s logging practices in the Tillamook, Clatsop, and Elliott State Forests are illegally “taking” the imperiled seabird in violation of the Endangered Species Act.  To prevent additional murrelet habitat from being lost while the case works its way through the court system, the conservation groups filed an injunction request in federal court to halt sales and logging in the occupied murrelet habitat pending the outcome of the lawsuit.
      
The State agreed to suspend three timber sales and to hold off on auctioning three others to give the Court time to consider the preliminary injunction motion. Plaintiffs have also recognized the State has taken things a step further by removing at least four additional timber sales in murrelet habitat from the auction block that were scheduled to be sold in the near future.   
 
“We are pleased that the state has suspended clearcutting in murrelet habitat on its own accord while this portion of the case proceeds,” said Francis Eatherington, conservation director with Cascadia Wildlands. “We hope that Governor Kitzhaber will permanently abandon these illegal timber sales, prevent any others like them in the future, and begin acting within the law in managing our state forests.”
 
The Endangered Species Act prohibits actions that “take” threatened species. Take is broadly defined to include actions that kill, harm or injure protected species, including destruction of habitat. The injunction request presents evidence that logging in the three state forests is harming marbled murrelets by destroying their nesting habitat. The logging operations were either already underway or ready for auction.
 
“Oregon's irresponsible logging is driving the marbled murrelet to extinction,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director for the Center for Biological Diversity.  "We're asking the court to stop the worst of the state’s timber sales, and encouraging Governor Kitzhaber to initiate the development of scientifically-supported management plans for our coastal state forests.”
 
The injunction motion requests a halt to 11 timber sales, constituting 840 acres of proposed logging in the three forests as well as a halt to any future logging in occupied murrelet habitat pending the outcome of the case. The injunction is necessary because significant amounts of murrelet habitat could be lost while the case works its way through the court system.
 
“The suspension of the timber sales is an important interim measure while the litigation proceeds,” said Bob Sallinger, conservation director for the Audubon Society of Portland. “However it is important for the public to realize that these and other sales in murrelet habitat are still at real risk of proceeding in the near future.”
 
The most recent status review of marbled murrelets by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found the birds have been declining at a rate of approximately 4 percent per year and that this decline likely relates to continued loss of habitat, primarily on state and private lands.
 
 Oregon recently abandoned its decade-long attempt to develop habitat conservation plans (HCPs) for the three forests that would have given it a federal permit for limited impacts to marbled murrelets in exchange for habitat protection measures designed to enhance the bird's conservation. Rather than improving habitat protections, the state turned its back on murrelets and other listed species altogether by walking away from the HCP process. The lawsuit seeks to force the state to develop a plan that will protect murrelets and the mature forests on which the birds and other species depend.
 
The conservation organizations are represented by outside counsel Daniel Kruse of Eugene, Tanya Sanerib and Chris Winter of the Crag Law Center, Nick Cady of Cascadia Wildlands, Scott Jerger of Field Jerger LLP, and Susan Jane Brown of the Western Environmental Law Center.
 
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A copy of the preliminary injunction memo and motion can be found here, and more case background can be found here.

 

Posted by bob in Campaign News Updates, Featured Case: Marbled Murrelet, Home Page Hot Topic, News, Oregon Campaigns, Press Room, Save the Elliott Rainforest, Uncategorized

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Jun14

Cascadia Wildlands Legal Director on TV Talking Wolf Pups

 

June 14, 2102
 
By Lauren Mickler KEZI
 
EUGENE, Ore. — The Cascadia Wildlands organization credits its lawsuit with helping Oregon's wolf population grow.
 
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife had issued a kill order on this particular wolf pack after it attacked cattle. But Cascadia Wildlands filed a lawsuit to stop the killing of wolves here.
 
Now the pack has four new pups.
 
"The kill order that the state had would have left the alpha female and just one pup to survive the winter together–and that was patchy at best. But because of our lawsuit, the pack was able to stay in tact, and they have four brand new wolf pups," said Cascadia Wildlands Legal Director Nick Cady.
 
Cascadia Wildlands is still waiting for a judgment on its lawsuit.
 
Visit here to watch video

 

 

Posted by bob in Campaign News Updates, Home Page Hot Topic, In The Media, Uncategorized

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Jun12

Cascadia Sues to Protect Seabird

For immediate release
May 31, 2012
 
Contact:
Josh Laughlin, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 844-8182      
Noah Greenwald, Center Biological Diversity, (503) 484-7495      
Bob Sallinger, Portland Audubon Society, (503) 380-9728      
Tanya Sanerib, Crag Law Center, (503) 525-2722      
 
Lawsuit Filed to Protect Threatened Marbled Murrelets from Clearcutting in Oregon State Forests
 
Conservationists Call on Gov. John Kitzhaber to Develop Long-term, Sustainable Plan for the Forests
 
PORTLAND, Ore.- Cascadia Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Audubon Society of Portland filed a lawsuit today in federal court charging that the State of Oregon's clearcutting practices illegally harm threatened marbled murrelets within the Tillamook, Clatsop and Elliott state forests in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The conservation organizations are calling on Gov. John Kitzhaber to develop a plan for state forests that will adequately protect the rare seabirds that spend most of their lives on the ocean but come inland to nest and breed in mature and old-growth forests.
 
“The state of Oregon is out of touch with the values of Oregonians by ignoring the dire needs of species teetering on the brink of extinction, like marbled murrelets,” said Francis Eatherington, conservation director of Cascadia Wildlands. “Governor Kitzhaber has to step up and call for the development of a long-term, science-based plan for these forests that doesn't result in an ongoing decline of the imperiled seabird.”  
 
The Endangered Species Act prohibits actions that “take” threatened and endangered species. Take is broadly defined to include actions that kill, harm or injure protected species, including destruction of habitat. The lawsuit presents evidence that logging on the three state forests, which cover nearly 600,000 acres within the range of the rare seabirds, are harming murrelets by destroying and fragmenting their nesting habitat. Although the state does survey for murrelets and establishes “reserves” where they are found, these reserves often do not include all of the habitat needed by the species, and the state still allows logging in the “protected” reserves. The state also surrounds the reserves with clearcuts, further degrading the value of the reserves to murrelets by making the trees more vulnerable to blowdowns during high winds and enabling increased access by nest predators such as jays and crows.  
 
“Logging on Oregon state forests threatens the survival of marbled murrelets and numerous other wildlife species,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The state needs to do more to ensure that logging is done in a way that protects murrelets and other endangered species.”  
 
The most recent status review of marbled murrelets by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that the birds have been declining at a rate of approximately 4 percent per year and that this decline likely relates to continued loss of habitat primarily on state and private lands. 
 
"Murrelets have been listed under the Endangered Species Act for two decades and during this time the State of Oregon has completely failed to implement the protections required under the Act. Instead, Oregon continues to perpetuate the unsustainable logging practices of the last century,” said Bob Sallinger of Portland Audubon Society. “Our organizations have worked for years to move the state towards more responsible logging practices, but with murrelet populations plummeting and no forward progress at the Department of Forestry we were left with no recourse but the courtroom.” 
 
Oregon recently abandoned its decade-long attempt to develop habitat conservation plans (HCPs) for the three forests that would have given it a federal permit for limited impacts to marbled murrelets in exchange for habitat protection measures designed to enhance the bird's conservation. Rather than improving habitat protections, the state turned its back on murrelets and other listed species altogether by walking away from the HCP process. The lawsuit seeks to force the state to develop a plan that will truly protect murrelets and the mature forests on which the birds and other species depend.
 
Revenue from clearcutting forests supports state forest management overhead and programs, as well as county and state services. Conservation groups have long encouraged the state to pursue other options for funding county operations and schools, and to generate revenue on state forests through innovative programs.
 
The conservation organizations are represented by outside counsel Daniel Kruse of Eugene, Tanya Sanerib of the Crag Law Center, Nick Cady of Cascadia Wildlands, Scott Jerger of Field Jerger LLP, and Susan Jane Brown of the Western Environmental Law Center.
 
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Posted by bob in Campaign News Updates, Featured Case: Marbled Murrelet, Home Page Hot Topic, Press Room, Uncategorized

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Jan19

Lawsuit Launched to Protect Threatened Marbled Murrelet from Clearcutting in Oregon State Forests

For immediate release
January 19, 2012
 
Contact:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Josh Laughlin, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 844-8182  
Noah Greenwald, Center for Biological Diversity, (503) 484-7495   
Bob Sallinger, Audubon Socity of Portland, (503) 380-9728 
  
           Lawsuit Launched to Protect Threatened Marbled Murrelets From Clearcutting in Oregon State Forests
State of Oregon’s Plans to Dramatically Increase Clearcutting Harming Wildlife, Water and People
 
PORTLAND, OR.— Cascadia Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity and Audubon Society of Portland filed a notice of intent to sue the state of Oregon today over harmful clearcutting practices on the Elliott, Tillamook and Clatsop state forests. The notice presents evidence that the state’s practices are harming, harassing and otherwise leading to the demise of the federally protected marbled murrelet, which comes inland to nest and breed in mature and old-growth forests. The Endangered Species Act prohibits actions that injure threatened species, including destruction of their habitat.
 
“These coastal state forests provide some of the best remaining older forest habitat in the Coast Range for the imperiled murrelet,” said Francis Eatherington, Conservation Director with Cascadia Wildlands. “Yet in 2010 and 2011, the state approved vast logging increases on all three forests. 2012 is the year the public will ensure that we have a sound plan for our forests, not more clearcutting.”
 
Timber sales on the three state forests are harming marbled murrelets by eliminating the trees they need for nesting and by fragmenting the forest, which leads to trees blowing down in their habitat and increased predation of the birds and their nests.
 
“Logging on Oregon’s state forests is driving the marbled murrelet to extinction,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We have a network of clearcuts, but no network of protected areas for rare and precious wildlife and fish. Oregon has to do more to protect the murrelet and other endangered species that need our older forests to survive.”
 
Current research on marbled murrelet populations in the Pacific Northwest shows that populations are declining every year; continued logging on the three state forests is a likely factor. By playing fast and loose with the requirements for finding murrelets and their habitat, the Oregon Department of Forestry continually allows logging in the birds’ nesting areas. Oregon is home to a vital part of the West Coast murrelet population, but if the forestry department’s practices are allowed to continue, the population declines could worsen.
 
“With nearly 600,000 acres of forest in the heart of Oregon’s Coast Range, state forests are key to the murrelet’s survival,” said Bob Sallinger, Conservation Director for the Audubon Society of Portland. “It is long past time for the state to take a proactive approach to protecting the old-growth and mature forests needed by the murrelet.”
 
For over a decade, the state was engaged in developing a habitat conservation plan that would have given it a permit for limited impacts to marbled murrelets in exchange for the bird’s conservation; but it abandoned that effort. This lawsuit seeks to force the state to develop a plan that will truly protect the murrelet.
 
Revenue from clearcutting supports state forest management overhead and programs as well as county and state services. The conservation groups have long encouraged the state to pursue other options on state forests to generate revenue: capitalizing on emerging carbon markets, conservation acquisitions, and restoration thinning in young plantations. Much work can be done in the forest that will produce value for all Oregonians while also protecting imperiled species.
 
The Elliott is a 93,000-acre forest located in the Coast Range east of Coos Bay. The Clatsop and Tillamook state forests are made up of nearly 500,000 acres in the northwest Oregon Coast Range. In the last two years, the state has revised management plans for the three state forests to dramatically increase logging.
 
The conservation organizations are represented by outside counsel Daniel Kruse of Eugene, Tanya Sanerib of the Crag Law Center, and Cascadia Wildlands’ Staff Attorney Nick Cady.
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Posted by Josh in Save the Elliott Rainforest

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