by Josh Laughlin, Executive Director I remember first meeting Francis Eatherington the day she rolled into an Earth First! road blockade high up on the Umpqua National Forest on her motorcycle. She was wearing a leather biking jacket, had a stack of timber sale maps under her arm, a compass dangling from her neck … Continue reading Marching in Francis’ Army
Last Chance to Comment on BLM’s Western Oregon Plan Revision
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages over 2.6 million acres of public forests in western Oregon and has recently undertaken efforts to revise all of its forest plans. These plans aim to dramatically increase timber harvests by 60% and ressurect the archaic practices of clearcutting older forests. The draft of the proposed plan … Continue reading Last Chance to Comment on BLM’s Western Oregon Plan Revision
Lawsuit Launched to Protect Northwest Prairie Bird Species
August 5, 2015 — Four conservation groups filed a formal notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today seeking to strengthen protections for the streaked horned lark, which has lost 98 percent its grassland habitat. The lawsuit will challenge an October 2013 decision by the agency to protect the lark as “threatened” rather than the more protective “endangered” status and to exempt all agriculture, chemical spraying, and airport activities from the prohibitions of the Endangered Species Act regardless of whether they harm the lark.
Legal Battle Results in Protections for Alaska’s Tongass National Forest
August 29, 2015 — In a major victory for America’s last great rainforest, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down a Bush administration exemption of the Tongass National Forest from the “Roadless Rule,” a landmark conservation rule adopted in 2001 to protect nearly 60 million acres of wild national forests and grasslands from new road building and logging. The Court held the Bush administration failed to provide a reasoned explanation for reversing course on the Tongass. It concluded the Roadless Rule “remains in effect and applies to the Tongass.”
Press Release: Logging Industry Lawsuit Thrown out by Federal Appeals Court
June 12, 2015 — A logging industry lawsuit that sought to force the Bureau of Land Management to increase logging on public lands in southwest Oregon was thrown out today by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The ruling vacates a 2013 decision that would have forced the Bureau of Land Management to sell timber even when those sales would have harmed salmon and had detrimental impacts on water quality and recreation.
Cascadia Wildlands Defeats White Castle Clearcutting in Court
March 17, 2015 — A US District Court judge has ruled in favor of conservation groups Oregon Wild and Cascadia Wildlands in their legal challenge of a controversial clearcut logging project on public lands in Douglas County. At stake in the case was the Bureau of Land Management’s “White Castle” logging project which proposed clearcutting 160 aces of 100-year old trees using a controversial methodology developed by Drs. Jerry Franklin and Norm Johnson referred to as “variable retention regeneration harvest” sometimes referred to as “eco-forestry.” In her ruling, Judge Ann Aiken found that the BLM’s environmental review fell far short of fully considering the full range of harm that could result from clearcutting.
Deja Vu, the Corrupt Bastards Club, and the Fabled Tongass National Forest
by Gabe Scott, Alaska Field Rep. Do you ever get the feeling you’re running in circles? That sense of déjà vu has been strong with me lately as we do legal battle over the Big Thorne and other massive old-growth timber sales in Southeast Alaska’s rainforest. For all the progress we’ve made … Continue reading Deja Vu, the Corrupt Bastards Club, and the Fabled Tongass National Forest
Cascadia Wildlands Statement on Wolf Recovery Announcement by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Press statement January 28, 2015 Contact: Nick Cady, Legal Director, Cascadia Wildlands, 314.482.3746 Josh Laughlin, Campaign Director, Cascadia Wildlands, 541.844.8182 The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife just announced it is moving to phase II of its wolf recovery plan in eastern Oregon after state wildlife … Continue reading Cascadia Wildlands Statement on Wolf Recovery Announcement by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
“The Future of Wilderness in Oregon,” a Community Forum on Feb. 4 in Eugene
“The Future of Wilderness in Oregon,” a Community Forum February 4, 2015, 6:30-8 pm • 110 Willamette Hall, University of Oregon Oregon has long been regarded as a state full of natural treasures with ample forests, rivers and mountains. We rely on Wilderness to provide clean drinking water, wildlife habitat, recreation and solitude. Wilderness is … Continue reading “The Future of Wilderness in Oregon,” a Community Forum on Feb. 4 in Eugene
Cascadia Challenges BLM Clearcutting Just Northeast of Eugene
January 15, 2015 — Conservation organizations filed a lawsuit today challenging the largest clearcut approved on federal land in Lane County in twenty years. The Second Show timber sale proposes 259 acres of public lands clearcutting and is located on public Bureau of Land Management lands just outside of Springfield, Oregon near Shotgun Creek. Clearcutting will have significant impacts to the watershed, which is already degraded, and will impact a popular recreation area.