Twenty-four Conservation Groups Call on Obama to Maintain Federal Protections for Wolves in the Northwest


August 14, 2012 — Twenty-four conservation organizations sent a letter to President Barack Obama today asking for continued Endangered Species Act protection for wolves in the Pacific Northwest. The groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Northwest, Oregon Wild, Defenders of Wildlife, Cascadia Wildlands, Sierra Club, NRDC, and others, sent the letter as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service moves toward a final decision on whether wolves in the Northwest and other areas will retain protection.

Press Release: Murie Family Cautions Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Over Anti-Wolf Rhetoric


July 18, 2012 — The Muries—arguably America’s first family of naturalists—sent an open letter today to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation asking them to either curb their anti-wolf rhetoric or stop using the Murie name in association with their organization.  The Foundation currently uses the Murie name on their website and other materials as well for their periodic granting of the Olaus J. Murie Award honoring the work of elk scientists.

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


July 2, 2012 — 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.

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.

Cascadia Sues to Protect Seabird


May 31, 2012 — 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.