June 26, 2024 — Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a 2022 ruling from the District Court of Oregon that prevents Scott Timber Co. from clearcutting old-growth forest within Oregon’s Elliott State Forest. The court held that the proposed logging of the 355-acre Benson Ridge parcel by the subsidiary of Roseburg Forest Products would harm threatened marbled murrelets in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act. The case marks the first time a private timber company has been held to account in court for potential violations of the federal Endangered Species Act in Oregon.
Press Release: Lawsuit Launched to Protect Oregon’s Red Tree Voles
June 20, 2024 — Conservation groups informed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today that they intend to sue over the agency’s denial of Endangered Species Act protections to the imperiled North Oregon Coast population of red tree voles. The Service’s decision to deny protections in February echoes a 2019 Trump administration denial, which was made despite several previous findings that protection was warranted. North Coast voles are threatened by logging and climate change-fueled wildfires.
VICTORY! Court Halts Roadside Post-fire Logging Project
November 5, 2021 — Today for the second time this year, a federal court halted U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) plans to carry out extensive post-fire roadside logging. In granting a preliminary injunction, the court stopped planned commercial logging along 400 miles of roads within the Willamette National Forest. Federal District Judge Michael McShane’s order states: “Given the immense scale of this Project, which allows the felling of trees along 404 miles of forest roads, Plaintiffs [Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild, and Willamette Riverkeeper] have demonstrated a likelihood of success on the claim that the Forest Service may not use the road repair and maintenance [Categorical Exclusion] to avoid [National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)] review,” page 11. The Forest Service will be largely precluded from commencing logging until the court has heard and decided on the case, likely in early 2022.
Recreation and Wildlands Enthusiasts Celebrate as Local Clearcut Proposal Defeated in Court for a Second Time
June 4, 2021 — For the second time in three years, a logging proposal slated to clearcut over 100 acres of forest from the Thurston Hills designated recreation area on the edge of Springfield has been deemed illegal by a federal judge. The Court’s Findings and Recommendations come after years of campaigning by affected landowners and wildlands and recreation enthusiasts working alongside attorneys litigating on behalf of Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild. Landowners living adjacent to Thurston Hills and citizens of Springfield and Eugene have opposed the project since its inception, due to the increased risk of wildfire and the diminished recreational value that clear-cut logging would bring to the area.
Press Release: BLM Attempting to Clearcut Thurston Hills Again Despite Fire Risk to Springfield
May 18, 2020 — In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) made a final decision to move forward with the Thurston Hills timber sale today despite widespread opposition to the project. With 79th Street in Springfield on one side and newly constructed trails on the other, this BLM parcel is the closest federal public land to the Springfield-Eugene urban area and an invaluable recreation area for local residents. The timber sale would result in extensive “regeneration harvest” (all but clear-cutting) of 109 acres of middle-aged forest immediately adjacent to Willamalane’s recently opened 655-acre Thurston Hills Natural Area.
FIELD REPORT / BLOG: In the Forest in the Age of COVID-19
By Gabe Scott Cascadia Wildlands In-house Counsel We’ve been keeping our eyes on the forests during the Pandemic. The crisis and response is revealing hidden priorities, shifting alliances, and revealing inequities. The public land agencies, the Forest Service and BLM, and the State governments, have been closing recreation, canceling restoration, and moving forward with logging … Continue reading FIELD REPORT / BLOG: In the Forest in the Age of COVID-19
INTERN-al UPDATE: A Snowy Field Check in Flat Country
By Courtney Kaltenbach Field Checking Intern for Cascadia Wildlands, Spring 2020 On a cool Saturday morning, over twenty people met in the Cascadia parking lot to prepare to go out on the first public field checking trip of the year into the Flat Country timber sale. Covid-19 had been declared an international pandemic three days … Continue reading INTERN-al UPDATE: A Snowy Field Check in Flat Country
Umpqua Sweets Timber Sale
Watch “Voices from the Umpqua” Now BACKGROUND The Umpqua Sweets timber sale proposes to log 2,000 acres of public forest on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land above the famed North Umpqua River on Highway 138. There is one logging unit directly along the river, and many up Bob, Rock, Honey and Susan Creeks. The … Continue reading Umpqua Sweets Timber Sale
Cascadia Wildlands and Allies Challenge Enormous North Landscape Timber Sale
November 20, 2019 — Cascadia Wildlands, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Oregon Wild, and Soda Mountain Wilderness Council have filed suit to stop a 9,000-acre timber project in Southern Oregon that will allow logging in threatened spotted owl habitat contrary to federal laws. The project will occur next to the treasured Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, further degrading surrounding forests.
Legal Victory: Lower Grave Timber Sale Halted
Old-Growth Timber Sale Above Rogue River Deemed Illegal Federal Judge Finds BLM Failed to Consider Approach to Reducing Fire Threat On the evening of July 2, Oregon Federal District Judge Michael McShane issued a legal order effectively halting the “Lower Graves” old-growth timber sale proposed above the popular lower Rogue River in the Grants Pass … Continue reading Legal Victory: Lower Grave Timber Sale Halted