Author: Arran Robertson

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Biden administration moves to protect old-growth forests

|Arran Robertson|Forests, Logging, Old-Growth

Contact for more information

Steve Pedery, Oregon Wild
Randi Spivak, Center for Biological Diversity
Jackson Chiappinelli, Earthjustice
Mark Morgenstein, Environment America
Josh Mogerman, NRDC
Ian Brickey, Sierra Club 
Zack Porter, Standing Trees
Hannah Smay, WildEarth Guardians

According to reports, the Biden administration will announce Tuesday a proposed nationwide forest plan amendment to advance protections for the last remaining old-growth trees in U.S. national forests. President Joe Biden has said these trees are critical components of the nation’s fight against the climate and extinction crises. The proposal, if adopted, would add new restrictions on logging and is a step toward fulfilling the promise of the president’s April 2022 Executive Order, which directs the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior to address threats to mature and old-growth forests on federal lands as a natural climate solution and develop policies to conserve them. 

Members of the Climate Forests Campaign, a coalition of more than 120 organizations working to protect mature and old-growth trees and forests on federal land, welcomed the announcement as an important step forward while urging the Forest Service to pursue steps to protect mature trees. Both old-growth and mature forests are essential to removing climate-warming carbon pollution from the air and storing it, safeguarding wildlife, and providing clean drinking water for our communities. 

The vast majority of old-growth forests have already been logged. Most that are left are largely on federally-managed public lands. As of November 2022, the Climate Forests Campaign had identified numerous timber sales targeting at least 370,000 acres of mature and old-growth forests for logging on federal land. 

In addition to storing huge amounts of carbon and keeping it out of the atmosphere, mature and old-growth forests also provide essential wildlife habitats and are the most fire-resilient trees in the forest. As the world experiences record-shattering heat and widespread climate disasters, protecting these forests is critical to prevent the worst consequences of climate change.

The public will have an opportunity to weigh in on the proposal in a public comment period.  

In response, environmental advocates issued the following statements:

“Protecting our old growth trees from logging is an important first step to ensure these giants continue to store vast amounts of carbon, but other older forests also need protection,” said Randi Spivak, public lands policy director with the Center for Biological Diversity. “To fulfill President Biden’s executive order and address the magnitude of the climate crisis, the Forest Service also needs to protect our mature forests, which if allowed to grow will become the old-growth of tomorrow.” 

“The Biden administration’s proposed plan to protect old-growth trees across the country is an important milestone for forest conservation and U.S. progress in addressing the climate crisis,” said Earthjustice senior legislative representative Blaine Miller-McFeeley. “Even as it works to complete this proposal, the Forest Service must take steps to fulfill President Biden’s executive order by also developing protections for mature trees, which are our future old-growth and exist in much greater numbers than old-growth, storing vast amounts of carbon. We look forward to working with the Forest Service to help it safeguard mature and old-growth forests. Conservation of these forests goes hand in hand with addressing the threat of wildfires as older and larger trees tend to be the most fire-resistant.” 

“Americans love our forests. They’re natural playgrounds for people and wildlife alike. That’s why more than half a million people this summer asked the Forest Service to protect mature and old-growth trees and forests,” said Ellen Montgomery, Public Lands Campaign Director with Environment America. “Our mature and old-growth trees provide critical wildlife habitats, filter drinking water for communities and absorb and store tons of carbon. We’re really pleased that the Forest Service has taken this unprecedented step and we urge them to take actions to protect mature forests. To have a future where we have more old-growth, not less, it is critical to protect mature forests as well.”

“The Administration has rightly recognized that protecting America’s mature and old-growth trees and forests must be a core part of America’s conservation vision and playbook to combat the climate crisis,” said Garett Rose, senior attorney at NRDC. “This announcement is an important step toward meeting these goals. The Forest Service should move forward to develop the strongest possible safeguards for these forests.”

“Oregon Wild has been working to protect old-growth forests for 50 years. With today’s action, President Biden is taking a major step forward in protecting these national treasures,” said Lauren Anderson, Climate Forest Program Manager with Oregon Wild. “We look forward to working with his administration to implement this policy, and to ensure that mature and old-growth forests across the country are protected.”

“Our ancient forests are some of the most powerful resources we have for taking on the climate crisis and preserving ecosystems,” said Sierra Club Forests Campaign Manager Alex Craven. “We are pleased to see that the Biden administration continues to embrace forest conservation as the critical opportunity that it is. This amendment is a meaningful step towards averting climate catastrophe, safeguarding vulnerable ecosystems, and fulfilling President Biden’s commitment to preserve old-growth and mature trees across federal lands.” 

“We applaud the Biden Administration for taking a significant step towards increasing protections for our nation’s endangered old-growth forests,” said Zack Porter, Executive Director of Standing Trees, an organization that works to protect and restore public lands in the six-state New England region. “But the reality is that more than 99.9% of old-growth forests in New England have already been cut down. For the climate and biodiversity, the Forest Service must put an end to destructive mature forest logging that prevents the recovery and expansion of old-growth forests across the US. We are buoyed by today’s announcement, and remain optimistic that the Forest Service will take further action to secure protections for America’s future old-growth forests.”

“Mature and old- growth forests are an essential component of a broader climate-crisis solution – but only if we protect them from logging,” said Adam Rissien, Rewilding Manager with WildEarth Guardians.  “Today’s announcement by the Forest Service establishes necessary and long-overdue protections for old growth forests, limiting when they can be cut and sold commercially. Taking the next step and developing a national rule covering both mature and old-growth would deliver on the Biden administration’s commitment to protect these trees once and for all.”

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Forest Service releases “dangerously vague” proposal to amend the Northwest Forest Plan

|Arran Robertson|Forests, Logging, Old-Growth, State Forests

Contact for more information

Steve Pedery, Conservation Director

Today, the Forest Service took the first official step in its long-rumored effort to amend the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan.

Oregon Wild Conservation Director Steve Pedery:

The visionary Northwest Forest Plan was intended to protect and restore mature and old-growth forests and imperiled salmon and wildlife on federal public lands in the Pacific Northwest.  It was the first landscape-level ecosystem protection plan adopted anywhere in the world and remains an international model for conservation. The plan has had enormous benefits for clean water, salmon, and wildlife because of its protected reserve system. These reserves, with their general prohibition on logging forests over 80 years old, have allowed many areas to recover from the epidemic of old-growth clearcutting that ravaged the region in the 1970s and 1980s.

The announcement today comes just a few days after the end of the COP 28 climate conference in Dubai, where nations from around the globe spoke to the urgent need to pursue climate and carbon solutions–including the protection of mature and old-growth forests.  Unfortunately, the document the Forest Service released today is dangerously vague about its goals when it comes to carbon and logging. While it rightly acknowledges President Biden’s Executive Order 14072 on forests and climate change and speaks extensively about the risks climate change poses to forests, the agency ignores the EO’s related direction to retain and enhance carbon storage as a natural climate solution. While we applaud the document’s acknowledgment of the need to better consult tribal communities and protect tribal treaty rights, it mostly ignores the Northwest Forest Plan’s importance for ecosystem services such as salmon and clean drinking water.

In the coming months, it will be very important that conservation groups, tribes, scientists, and concerned citizens work together to ensure that the Forest Service does not weaken protections for our mature and old-growth forests, clean water, wildlife, and climate here in the Pacific Northwest. The Biden administration has given the Forest Service clear direction about the need to recover mature and old-growth forests as a natural climate and carbon solution. Through grassroots activism, public education, policy advocacy, and the courts, we need to work hard to ensure that direction is followed, and to ensure that the Forest Service adopts strong protections for mature and old-growth forests all across the country.

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Conservation Groups Applaud Sen. Merkley for Resolution Calling for a National Biodiversity Strategy

|Arran Robertson|Wildlife

WASHINGTON, D.C.— As the United States faces escalating impacts from the joint biodiversity and climate crises, leading conservation groups including Defenders of Wildlife, the Endangered Species Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Oregon Wild, Sierra Club, Wildlife Conservation Society, and World Wildlife Fund today applauded Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) for introducing a resolution in the Senate calling on the Biden administration to establish a National Biodiversity Strategy and make actions to address the biodiversity crisis a national priority. 

A National Biodiversity Strategy would establish a whole-of-government approach to address the extinction crisis, and its leading drivers, by requiring a more effective and coordinated use of existing laws, policies, and programs to protect biodiversity and reverse its decline. It would help protect, retain and restore highly intact ecosystems, promote environmental justice and provide a blueprint for local, state, tribal, federal efforts to tackle the biodiversity crisis while also complementing the Biden administration’s other habitat loss and climate change initiatives.  

The U.S. currently lacks a comprehensive and coordinated approach to combating the five main drivers of the biodiversity crisis: habitat loss, over-exploitation, climate change, pollution and invasive species. Worldwide, 194 countries have created versions of a national biodiversity strategy. With burgeoning threats in some of our most intact and biodiverse landscapes, the urgency for action is paramount. 

“Right now is a pivotal moment to double down on our commitment to preserving our nation’s natural heritage and ensure that future generations aren’t left grasslands without grouse, forests without owls and ponds and streams devoid of life,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife. “We deeply appreciate Senator Merkley’s dedication to addressing the escalating biodiversity crisis and creating a better world for people and wildlife. Inaction in the face of extinction is not an option.” 

“Thank you, Senator Merkley, for your leadership in championing a National Biodiversity Strategy. This is a pivotal time for wildlife. In North America, we have lost nearly 70% of our mammals since 1970, and scientists estimate that one in four animals are threatened with extinction. It is critical that we have a comprehensive plan to effectively confront the biodiversity crisis and safeguard the wildlife we love for future generations,” said Susan Holmes, Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition. 

“Biodiversity loss is inextricably linked to the other great crises threatening our planet: climate change and zoonotic pandemics,” said John Calvelli, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs of the Wildlife Conservation Society. “Conserving 30% of nature by 2030 is essential to safeguarding our planet’s life support systems now and into the future, and in the U.S. a whole-of-government approach is critical if we are to succeed. We are grateful to Senator Merkley for introducing this resolution to urge the Biden Administration to establish a national biodiversity strategy because life on earth depends on a vibrant, healthy, and biodiverse planet.”

“According to WWF’s 2022 Living Planet Report, we are seeing an alarming loss of biodiversity, with wildlife populations declining on average by 69 percent globally since 1970. The U.S. must play a leadership role in tackling this crisis, both globally and domestically, including by conserving and restoring iconic species such as the American bison, black-footed ferret, and blue whale. Establishing a National Biodiversity Strategy would elevate needed action by directing federal agencies to pursue bold measures that protect nature and align the U.S. with efforts as part of the Global Biodiversity Framework to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. It is urgent to act now, and WWF welcomes Sen. Merkley’s resolution calling for a U.S. National Biodiversity Strategy, complementing companion efforts in the House of Representatives.” – Ginette Hemley, Senior Vice President of Wildlife Conservation for World Wildlife Fund.

“Humanity must tackle the biodiversity and climate crises together if we want to effectively address either,” said Andrew Wetzler, senior vice president for nature at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “Senator Merkley’s resolution helps bridge this gap in the U.S. approach as a National Biodiversity Strategy will defend nature and the benefits it provides, including climate mitigation, for future generations.”

“Though the Endangered Species Act has an impressive 50-year history of keeping native plants and animals from vanishing from our landscapes, we urgently need more tools that prevent species from needing the Act in the first place, “ said Danielle Moser, Wildlife Program Manager for Oregon Wild. “Senator Jeff Merkley’s introduction of the National Biodiversity Strategy resolution is a crucial step toward addressing the dire threats facing our wildlife and ecosystems, including here in Oregon.”

“When it comes to stopping the biodiversity crisis, the United States must be an international leader,” said Bradley Williams, Associate Director of Legislative and Administrative Advocacy at the Sierra Club. “We must lead by example by developing our own national biodiversity strategy while funding global efforts to support the biodiversity goals of developing countries. Senator Merkley’s resolution sends a strong signal that now is the time to join global efforts to protect biodiversity.”

The campaign for a National Biodiversity Strategy is supported by more than 120 organizations, leading scientists and 365 state legislators from across the country. A companion resolution introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep.  Joe Neguse (D-CO) has garnered the support of 55 representatives including Representatives Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). 

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$26,500 Offered for Information About Two Illegal Oregon Wolf Killings

|Arran Robertson|Wildlife, Wolves

Contact for more information

Amaroq Weiss, Center for Biological Diversity
Bethany Cotton, Cascadia Wildlands
Danielle Moser, Oregon Wild

PORTLAND, Ore.— The Oregon Wildlife Coalition, conservation partners and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are offering rewards totaling $26,500 for information leading to arrests and convictions following the separate killings of two wolves in Oregon. 

“I’m so saddened to learn of the illegal killings of two more Oregon wolves, which add to the enormous spike in human-caused wolf mortality we’ve been seeing here the past several years,” said Amaroq Weiss, senior wolf advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Wherever wolves live in Oregon, federally protected or not, there is no hunting of wolves allowed. Killing this wolf was illegal and also morally wrong.”

Wildlife conservation groups today announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction for the illegal killing of a collared male wolf found Nov. 13 in southwestern Oregon’s Jackson County. Since the wolf was killed in a part of the state where wolves are still federally protected under the Endangered Species Act, the Service has offered a $5,000 reward, for a total of $15,000. 

The conservation groups announced a separate $11,500 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction for the illegal killing of a collared female wolf found Nov. 27 in northeast Oregon in Baker County.

The poaching incidents were publicly reported Dec. 5 by the Service and by Oregon State Police. The Oregon Wildlife Coalition and conservation partners have a standing reward offer to assist in prosecuting all illegal wolf killings.

“Poaching is cowardly and illegal. Poachers are stealing from all Oregonians and undermining decades of conservation efforts,” said Bethany Cotton, conservation director with Cascadia Wildlands. “We call on the public to come forward with any information that may help bring those responsible to justice and for law enforcement to redouble their efforts.”

The wolf killed in Jackson County, known as OR-125, was found dead Nov. 13 near Union Creek, east of Crater Lake. He was a member of the Indigo pack, whose territory is north of Crater Lake straddling Douglas and Klamath counties. 

Authorities were alerted Nov. 27 to the second poached wolf discovered within the Keating Wildlife Management Unit about 25 miles east of Baker City. State wildlife agency officials have indicated that this female wolf, OR-95, was a member of the Cornucopia pack. 

“Wolf poaching continues to be a tragic assault on Oregon values and our natural heritage,” said Danielle Moser with Oregon Wild. “Each death is a blow to the resilience and integrity of our wild landscapes.”

Since 2001 at least 34 wolves are known to have been poached across the state, with most killed in eastern Oregon. Scientific research has shown that removing protections for wolves is associated with increased illegal killings. For every illegally slain wolf found, another one to two wolves have been killed and remain undiscovered.

Anyone with information regarding the OR-125 case is urged to contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at (503) 682-6131 or the Oregon State Police TIP line at (800) 452-7888. Callers with information on the wolf killed near Baker City should reach out only to the Oregon State Police line. Callers may remain anonymous. Reports also can be made online at https://www.oregon.gov/osp/programs/fw/pages/tip.aspx

Background

Oregon wolves have had critical protections removed and then restored in recent years. The Trump administration stripped federal Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves across most of the country in January 2021, including in western Oregon. In February 2022 a federal court restored those protections. 

However, since 2011 wolves in the eastern third of Oregon have not had federal protections and have been managed by the state. In 2015 the state Fish and Wildlife Commission prematurely stripped wolves of state endangered species act protections. 

At last count, Oregon had a minimum of 178 wolves. Following a significant increase in poaching and agency kill actions in 2021 and 2022, Oregon’s wolf counts those years show minimal annual growth of the state wolf population, only 1% in 2021 and 1.7% in 2022. The 2023 population count is expected to be issued in April.

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The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

Cascadia Wildlands defends and restores Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts and in the streets.

Oregon Wild works to protect and restore Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife and waters as an enduring legacy for future generations.

The Oregon Wildlife Coalition includes the Center for Biological Diversity, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands, Portland Audubon, Willamette Riverkeeper, the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Voters Oregon and Western Environmental Law Center. Speak for Wolves and Greater Hells Canyon Council also contributed to the standing reward offer.

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Oregon Wild celebrates new wolverine protections

|Arran Robertson|Wildlife

Today, Oregon Wild, along with a coalition of wildlife conservation groups, applauds the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) decision to grant federal protections to wolverines, listing them as a “threatened” species under the Endangered Species Act. This landmark decision comes after more than 20 years of dedicated advocacy by wildlife conservation organizations working to safeguard the wolverine population.

Numbering only about 300 in the contiguous U.S., wolverines face significant threats from climate change, habitat loss, trapping, and other human-induced pressures.

“This listing, driven by the best available science, underscores the urgency of protecting these iconic animals facing threats from climate change, habitat loss, and trapping,” said Danielle Moser, Wildlife Program Manager at Oregon Wild. “While we appreciate the progress, we have concerns that this decision creates a potentially devastating loophole for trapping in wolverine habitat. Given the “scavenging” behavior of wolverines, it is critical that they receive comprehensive safeguards to ensure the species’ survival in the face of a rapidly changing environment.”

The Endangered Species Act (ESA), which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, is a bipartisan, bedrock environmental law that has been successful in preventing extinction for over 99% of listed species. If not for the ESA and actions driven by the best available science, species such as the bald eagle, humpback whale, gray wolf, California condor, Oregon chub, and many others might have gone extinct. In addition to being incredibly successful, the ESA is also widely popular, with surveys repeatedly showing that a strong majority of Americans -80-90%- support this important law. 

Watch the Wolverines of Oregon

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1.3 million Oregonians would benefit from drinking water protections under the River Democracy Act

|Arran Robertson|Drinking Water, River Democracy Act, Rivers

Bend, Ore., — Today, Oregon Wild released a comprehensive report analyzing the significant positive impact the River Democracy Act would have on drinking water sources for communities across Oregon. This report highlights the potential role the River Democracy Act could play in safeguarding Oregon’s pristine rivers and watersheds, which are vital to the well-being of its residents and the state’s economy.

“By safeguarding watersheds that flow through public lands from reckless mining and logging, the River Democracy Act would provide important safeguards to drinking water,” said Wilderness Program Manager Erik Fernandez. “We ran the numbers, and over 1.3 million Oregonians in communities all across the state stand to have their drinking water better protected with the passage of this legislation.”

Download the report

The River Democracy Act, introduced by Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, aims to designate 3,200 miles of Wild & Scenic Rivers across Oregon, increasing the percentage of Oregon’s waterways protected as Wild & Scenic from 2 to 5%. Protected watersheds are crucial to clean, safe drinking water, and many Oregonians will benefit from this important legislation.

Protecting the Watersheds of Oregon

Oregon is renowned for its wild rivers, lush forests, and breathtaking landscapes. These natural wonders not only provide opportunities for recreation but also serve as the primary source of drinking water for a majority of the state’s population. Approximately 71% of Oregonians rely on streams and rivers, referred to as “surface water sources,” for their drinking water. The cleanest and safest water comes from waterways flowing through intact, mature, and old-growth public forest lands, which act as natural filters. These forests absorb, store, filter, and cool water, ensuring the highest water quality possible.

Intact watersheds not only protect water quality but also maintain water quantity, reducing the need for expensive water treatment and filtration. These healthy watersheds are the lifeblood of Oregon’s rural and urban economies. They support agriculture, Oregon’s thriving craft beer industry, outdoor recreation, and various local businesses.

Highlighted Drinking Watersheds in the Report

The River Democracy Act represents a critical step toward protecting Oregon’s clean drinking water. The report highlights a number of watersheds that would receive additional safeguards and the communities that would benefit from these additional protections, including but not limited to:

The McKenzie River Watershed211,000 Oregonians
Tumalo Creek Watershed103,000 Oregonians
Rogue River140,000 Oregonians
Clackamas River317,000 Oregonians
Beaver Creek13,500 Oregonians

“At Falling Sky, we believe in the importance of protecting our local rivers and tributary streams.  Access to consistent and safe drinking waters is vital for our communities, and it also helps create better-quality beer.  Water is a resource worth protecting, not only for today but our future too!”
– Stephen Such, owner Falling Sky Brewing in Eugene, Oregon.

“Our community relies on dependable, clean drinking water for everything from household use to being a key ingredient in locally brewed beer. I hope Congress will pass the River Democracy Act and help better protect drinking water for 100,000 central Oregonians.”
– Anthony Broadman, Bend City Councilor.

“The water provided to the community of Rhododendron Oregon by the Rhododendron Water Association has twice been voted ‘Best Tasting Surface Water’ in the state of Oregon. We are adamantly in favor of anything that can be done to better protect and preserve our drinking water supply.”
– Steve Graeper, President, Rhododendron Water Assoc.

Overview of the River Democracy Act

 The River Democracy Act builds on the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, established in 1968 to preserve rivers with exceptional natural, cultural, and recreational values. By designating protective buffer zones along designated rivers, the Act prevents activities that could degrade water quality and the rivers’ natural values. The Act seeks to safeguard recreation, water quality, fish, wildlife, and other important environment values.

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Conservation Groups Challenge BLM’s “Big League” Logging Project Due to Impacts on Imperiled Spring Chinook Salmon Habitat and Other Values

|Arran Robertson|Forests, Logging

Contact for more information

John Persell, Staff Attorney, Oregon Wild
Nick Cady, Legal Director, Cascadia Wildlands

Today, conservation organizations Willamette Riverkeeper, Cascadia Wildlands, and Oregon Wild filed suit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), challenging the agency’s authorization of the approximately 4,600-acre Big League Project in the Calapooia and Mohawk River Watersheds northeast of Eugene. According to the groups’ complaint, the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to take the required “hard look” at the impacts that the Big League Project would have on a host of environmental values, including spotted owl habitat, carbon storage, stream flows, and water quality. Specifically, this project plans to clearcut the last and best older forest stands in the Calapooia and Mohawk River Watersheds. 

Download the complaint

Download press photos

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Oregon Spotted Frog Gets a Lifeline as Court Questions Grazing Practices

|Arran Robertson|Wildlife

Contact for more information

Adam Bronstein, Western Watersheds Project
Lizzy Potter, Advocates for the West
George Sexton, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center

PORTLAND, Ore .—Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) fell short of its obligations under the Endangered Species Act when issuing a Biological Opinion that allowed cattle grazing within critical habitat for the Oregon spotted frog on Jack Creek in the Fremont-Winema National Forest.

The Ninth Circuit faulted the FWS’s analysis of climate change, which failed “to consider whether the small frog population could sustain grazing-related impacts on top of potential climate change effects.” By ignoring available information that climate change will exacerbate low water conditions—a threat to the frogs—FWS failed to consider an important aspect of the problem. The Court also found that FWS relied on vague and inadequate mitigation measures to address the serious threat that low water conditions pose to the species. Crucially, the Court noted the importance of the Jack Creek population and the risk that its extirpation would pose to the species as a whole. 

Advocates for the West represented a broad coalition of conservation groups in this case: Western Watersheds Project, Central Oregon Bitterbrush Broads of the Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Concerned Friends of the Winema, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, and Oregon Wild. Many of these groups and others have spent more than 15 years advocating for greater protections for the rare and extraordinary biodiversity on these treasured public lands. Despite multiple wins in federal court over these issues, the Forest Service continues to allow a rancher with a long history of noncompliance to graze in aquatic habitat for sensitive species.

“This decision solidifies the ever-growing importance of considering climate change when authorizing federal actions on public lands,” said Jayne Goodwin for the Concerned Friends of the Winema. John Persell of Oregon Wild agreed. “Our federal agencies cannot hide behind purported uncertainty to avoid addressing head-on the compounding impacts climate change will have on struggling species like the Oregon spotted frog,” Persell said. 

“Maybe, just maybe, the Forest Service will finally come to terms with the fact that cattle grazing is incompatible with the habitat needs of the Oregon spotted frog here on Jack Creek,” said Adam Bronstein, director for Oregon and Nevada for Western Watersheds Project. “The Forest Service’s efforts to prop up irresponsible cattle operations can no longer stand, particularly in the face of the accelerating climate and the extinction crises.” 

“If these rare frogs are to survive, their pools and fens need to be protected and restored rather than utilized as a cattle feedlot,” said George Sexton, Conservation Director for the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center. “The fence that is supposed to protect Jack Creek from grazing doesn’t work and has never worked. Jack Creek is more valuable for clean water and wildlife habitat than as a cattle trough.”

Litigation on the Antelope Allotment began back in 2008. The history of this litigation can be found here. 

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Concerned Friends of the Winema has been working for 30 years to protect biodiversity and watchdog management on the Fremont-Winema National Forest.

Western Watersheds Project is a nonprofit environmental conservation group dedicated to protecting and restoring native wildlife and watersheds throughout the American West.

Advocates for the West is a nonprofit, public interest environmental law firm that works to defend public lands, water, fish, and wildlife throughout the American West.

Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center works to protect the wildlands, watersheds and wildlife of Southern Oregon and Northern California.

Oregon Wild is a nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to protecting and restoring Oregon’s wildlands, wildlife, and waters as an enduring legacy for future generations.

Great Old Broads for Wilderness is a national grassroots organization, led by women, that engages and inspires activism to preserve and protect wilderness and wild lands.

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Conservationists Challenge BLM Clearcut of Endangered Species Habitat

|Arran Robertson|Logging, Old-Growth

Eugene, OR

Contact for more information

John Persell, Staff Attorney, Oregon Wild
Nick Cady, Legal Director, Cascadia Wildlands

Today, conservation groups challenged a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) logging project that would clearcut mature and old-growth forests and degrade protected wildlife habitat for endangered species. The Big Weekly Elk logging sale, proposed by the BLM’s Coos Bay District, includes logging over 3,500 acres of forest, including areas supposed to be set aside to protect marbled murrelets. 

Download the complaint

“This area consists of designated reserves set aside to provide old-forest habitat for imperiled species,” said Nick Cady, Legal Director with Cascadia Wildlands. “But the agency is now proposing to heavily log these areas to meet internally generated timber targets and did not even consider the impacts this logging would have on these species.” 

The BLM’s 2016 Resource Management Plan outlines requirements to protect marbled murrelets and northern spotted owls. Big Weekly Elk ignores these rules, logging and building roads through 55 known marbled murrelet sites and threatening five known northern spotted owl nesting sites. Despite the presence of these vulnerable species, the BLM refused to conduct an analysis of how the logging project would impact murrelets or owls.

“Mature and old-growth forests like those the BLM is proposing to log here are vital, not just for endangered species and clean drinking water, but also for capturing and storing carbon to fight climate change,” said John Persell, Staff Attorney for Oregon Wild. “The BLM needs to do its job, what it is legally required to do, not just blindly log and clearcut our public lands.”

“This area has already been hammered by private and BLM clearcuts. Now they’re going after what’s left, and they’re not going to let anything get in the way, including their own rules.”

The lawsuit asserts the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to complete a detailed environmental impact statement for Big Weekly Elk, and by failing to take the requisite “hard look” at impacts to endangered species habitat, carbon storage, and a host of other environmental values. The project is surrounded by private lands logging, as well as the BLM’s own Coos Bay Landscape Management Project, which together have already decimated the forest cover in the region, yet the BLM took none of these activities into account in its determination that its logging will have no impact. The areas targeted by the BLM are some of the last intact forest stands in the area.

“This area has already been hammered by private and BLM clearcuts,” said Madeline Cowen, Grassroots and Digital Organizer for Cascadia Wildlands. “Now they’re going after what’s left, and they’re not going to let anything get in the way, including their own rules.”

In proposing to log mature and old-growth forest stands, Big Weekly Elk also contradicts President Biden’s 2022 Executive Order to protect mature and old-growth forests as a natural climate solution. In March, the BLM announced its wide-ranging “Conservation and Landscape Health” rule, with a goal to “promote ecosystem resilience on public lands” and included an acknowledgment of the importance of mature and old-growth trees and forests. The agency concluded a public comment period for proposed rulemaking in July, with hundreds of thousands of people calling on the federal government to protect mature and old-growth trees and forests from logging. 

“Big Weekly Elk includes logging mature and old-growth forests, the very forests that are the most effective tools available for mitigating climate change and promoting biodiversity,” said Victoria Wingell, Forests and Climate Campaigner for Oregon Wild. “They store huge amounts of carbon and keep it out of the atmosphere. As the world experiences record-shattering heat and widespread climate disasters, protecting these forests is critical for preventing the worst impacts of climate change.”

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NASA Maps and Report Highlight Oregon’s Clearcutting Epidemic

|Arran Robertson|Drinking Water, Forests, Logging, State Forests

Today, the NASA DEVELOP Program released an analysis of how much of Oregon’s Coast Range was logged in the past 20 years in drinking watersheds. The maps and analysis show clearcutting across substantial portions of these watersheds.

“The team’s analysis on clearcutting found that 26% of the forested area within the 80 selected watersheds experienced clearcutting between 2000 and 2022,” said the report. “This is equivalent to approximately 584 square miles of land…. or 25 square miles, per year.”

The 584 sq miles of clearcutting in the Coast Range is only the amount in drinking watersheds, it doesn’t factor in the rest of the mountain range. Many of these forests have been clearcut more than once.

“Anyone that has driven through the Coast Range has seen the jarring clearcuts. Now, one of the premier scientific agencies on the planet has demonstrated just how extensive that logging has been,” said Erik Fernandez of Oregon Wild. “Seeing that several watersheds have had over 50% of their drinking watershed logged was of particular concern.” 

The report is the result of a NASA DEVELOP 10-week assessment study co-developed with Oregon Wild.

Download the report

Key statistics from the NASA report

  • Total square miles of logging in drinking watersheds in the Coast Range = 584 
  • Seaside drinking watershed: 58% logged in past 20 years
  • Lincoln City drinking watershed: 34% logged in past 20 years
  • Rockaway Beach: 78% logged in past 20 years

Studies have demonstrated that clearcut logging, as well as the practices that accompany it, like road building and aerial pesticide spraying, increase sediment and other pollutants flowing into streams and drinking water sources. While the recent Private Forest Accord increased no-logging buffers around streams and added some protections for steep slopes, communities remain concerned about the extent of clearcutting in their drinking watersheds and short-term and cumulative impacts of industrial logging. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is responsible under the federal Clean Water Act for protecting water quality.

“Companies are logging a vast landscape–both public and private land–that people depend on for drinking water, treating the forest like a crop rotation instead of the complex and living system that it truly is,” said Casey Kulla, state forest policy coordinator for Oregon Wild. “In the Coast Range, Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality needs to be focused squarely on protecting the quality and quantity of water from these forests. Polluters need to be held accountable for known water quality failures.”

Beyond issues with water quality, clearcut logging has also been shown to decrease the quantity of water available for decades after the logging occurs. When a forest is cut, the roots of the trees begin to break down and the soil no longer stores moisture over time, so water drains out of the clearcut more rapidly, creating high-intensity pulses. The young, growing forests that are planted in the wake of a clearcut take up vast amounts of water, which can leave downstream communities in drought, such as what happened to Yachats in 2015. 

Cities and rural cooperative water associations along the Oregon Coast Range are highly motivated to purchase their drinking watersheds to manage the land primarily for water quality and quantity. Unfortunately, forestland in the Coast and Coast Range remains prohibitively expensive for many communities and state agencies have been slow to respond to the threat of degraded drinking watersheds from logging. In the 2023 legislative session, the Oregon Legislature directed $5 million to community drinking watershed purchases.

“Oregon legislators deserve credit for taking steps that support communities working to protect their drinking water,” said Kulla. “However, more funding is needed for these critical purchases. We hope this analysis from NASA highlights the importance of these investments and that Legislators representing rural communities in the Coast Range and elsewhere will be leaders on this issue in Salem.”

The NASA/Oregon Wild project area primarily encompassed industrial forestlands (owned by Weyerhaeuser, Roseburg Forest Products, Stimson, and others) as well as state, federal, tribal, and municipal/county-owned lands. Private lands logging is typically clearcut logging whereas public lands logging is a mixture of thinning and clearcut logging.

Coast Range residents who want to stay informed about what happens in their drinking watersheds can sign up for the Oregon Department of Forestry’s notification system, FERNS. For a step-by-step tutorial, visit Your Forest Watershed and sign up at the Oregon Department of Forestry’s E-Notification page. 

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Tribes and Fish Advocates Challenge Oregon Salmon Trucking Rule

|Arran Robertson|Rivers, Wildlife

Salem, Ore. (September 5, 2023)

Contact for more information

Miles Johnson, Columbia Riverkeeper
David A. Moskowitz, The Conservation Angler
Steve Pedery, Oregon Wild

In an eleventh-hour rule change without meaningful public or tribal input, Oregon weakened protections for salmon; Tribes and fish advocates want the state to restore safeguards.

The Nez Perce Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, along with seven fish advocacy groups, have challenged a December 2022 decision by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) that weakened state-wide protections for migratory fish like salmon, steelhead, and lamprey. Instead of requiring that artificial barriers be upgraded to allow fish to swim freely past them, Oregon’s weakened rules can allow dam operators and others to trap salmon and load them into trucks for transport around dams—a process with much lower survival rates.

“After all the public process and discussions that went into developing the new rules, it’s really disappointing to see ODFW insert a major change at the last minute without consulting Tribes or notifying the public,” said David Moskowitz of The Conservation Angler, who participated in the rule-making that began in 2021. “ODFW’s new rule makes it less likely that effective and proven volitional fish passage will be constructed at dams, culverts, and diversions in Oregon, hindering efforts to recover Oregon’s migratory fish.”

“Healthy fisheries are vital to Tribes, river communities, and Oregon’s culture and economy; they deserve the highest level of protection,” said Miles Johnson, Legal Director for Columbia Riverkeeper. “It’s disappointing to see ODFW weaken those protections without explaining why or asking for public or Tribal input.”  

“Call me a radical, but I believe that salmon and steelhead should swim in our rivers, not be trapped and hauled around in trucks,” said Steve Pedery, Conservation Director with Oregon Wild. “Whoever at ODFW came up with the idea of redefining Oregon’s rules to allow trap-and-haul to substitute for freely swimming salmon should have been laughed out of the room.”

The conservation and fishing groups involved in the legal challenge include Columbia Riverkeeper, The Conservation Angler, Institute for Fisheries Resources, Native Fish Society, Northwest Environmental Defense Center, Oregon Wild, and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. They are represented by the non-profit Crag Law Center.

Additional Resources (available on request to Miles Johnson, miles@columbiariverkeeper.org): 

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Judge rules Forest Service violated the law in rolling back forest protections

|Arran Robertson|Eastern Oregon, Logging, Old-Growth

August 31, 2023, Pendleton, OREGON

Contact for more information

Oregon Wild
Rob Klavins, Northeast Oregon Field Coordinator
rk@oregonwild.org
(541) 886-0212

Crag Law Center
Meriel Darzen, Staff Attorney 
(503) 525 – 2725 
meriel@crag.org

Central Oregon LandWatch
Rory Isbell, Staff Attorney, Rural Lands Program Manager
rory@colw.org
(541) 647-2930 ext.804

Greater Hells Canyon Council
Emily Cain, Executive Director
emily@hellscanyon.org
(541) 963-3950

Sierra Club
Mathieu Federspiel, Executive Committee
Juniper Group, Oregon Chapter Sierra Club
mathieuf.sc@gmail.com

WildEarth Guardians
Chris Krupp, Public Lands Attorney
ckrupp@wildearthguardians.org
(206) 417-6363

Today, a federal judge made a sweeping recommendation to set aside an illegal Forest Service rule change made under the Trump administration. Conservation groups, with support from the Nez Perce Tribe, challenged a change to the Eastside Screens, a longstanding set of rules to protect old growth on six national forests in Eastern Oregon and Washington. 

The Screens protected trees over 21” in diameter on over 7 million acres of public lands. These represent the largest 3% of trees in the region. Just days before President Biden took office, a political appointee of the Trump administration illegally changed the rule and allowed those trees to be logged. The Forest Service was joined by the timber industry in defending the change.

A U.S. Magistrate Judge in Pendleton, Oregon, found that the Forest Service should be required to prepare a full environmental impact statement: “The highly uncertain effects of this project, when considered in light of its massive scope and setting, raise substantial questions about whether this project will have a significant effect” on the environment, including endangered aquatic species.

Jamie Dawson of Greater Hells Canyon Council was pleased with the result but stated,

“It’s a shame that we needed a court to tell the Forest Service that they must follow the bedrock environmental laws that have been in place for decades. Completing a full public process and taking a hard look at the environmental impacts of their actions is the least they should be doing, especially when considering such an impactful decision.”

The Eastside Screens were initially put in place by the Forest Service to protect remaining habitat for old-growth-dependent wildlife; certain species were in rapid decline after decades of logging of the biggest trees in Eastern Oregon and Washington. For almost 30 years, the Screens reined in the removal of large trees and prevented unnecessary conflict on many logging projects.
 
The amendment was criticized for being a politically-motivated action that circumvented public and tribal involvement and ignored an established and growing body of science that contradicts the decision. More than 100 independent scientists joined dozens of conservation, climate, indigenous, and public health groups in opposing the rule change.

The court recommended that the plaintiff groups prevail on all three of their claims, finding that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Forest Management Act, and the Endangered Species Act, and recommended that Forest Service’s decision be vacated and the Service be required to prepare a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

“We’re pleased with the Court’s decision to invalidate the Forest Service’s misguided choice to remove protections for large trees on our public lands,” said Rory Isbell from Central Oregon LandWatch. “Today’s decision solidifies the value of large trees for our forests, wildlife, freshwater, and climate. We look forward to seeing these trees safeguarded well into the future.”

A recent scientific study found that the biggest and oldest trees covered by the rule make up only 3% of regional forests in the Pacific Northwest yet store 42% of forest carbon. Those trees also provide critical habitat for wildlife, keep water clean and cold, are resilient to wildfire, and are at the core of cultural values.

“The Sierra Club has long stood with our nation’s trees and forests, protecting these resources for our health and well being, as well as for that of future generations. We are encouraged that the court has sided with our case to protect the largest trees of our Eastside forests. We cannot stop here, but will continue to enlighten and encourage all people to experience the peace and awe of large trees and complex ecosystems, and use our legal system when we have to,” said Mathieu Federspiel of the Juniper Group Sierra Club.

In addition, on April 22, 2022, President Biden issued Executive Order 14072 on Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies, which directs the Forest Service to conserve America’s mature and old-growth forests as a part of a science-based approach to reduce wildfire risk and combat the climate and biodiversity crises.

“The Forest Service rushed through a politically motivated rule change to log the most ecologically important trees left on our landscape. Sadly, this is in line with their well-earned reputation for putting logging before the need to address the climate and biodiversity crises,” said Chris Krupp of WildEarth Guardians.

Rob Klavins, an advocate for Oregon Wild based in rural Wallowa County is looking forward, saying

“We hope the Forest Service will take this decision to heart. As they go back to the drawing board, we expect them to meaningfully involve all members of the public to create a durable solution. That includes Tribes, local conservationists, and independent scientists who were all deliberately marginalized in the first process. We call on the Biden administration to stop defending this illegal Trump rule change, and we encourage Senators Wyden and Merkley to empower all stakeholders in a process that will reduce conflict and ensure better outcomes in the future.”

That sentiment was echoed by Amy Stuart, a fish biologist and spokesperson for the Great Old Broads for WIlderness

“We stand ready to move forward with all parties, and the Forest Service to achieve a durable solution.”

Greater Hells Canyon Council, Oregon Wild, Central Oregon LandWatch, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, WildEarth Guardians, and the Sierra Club are represented by attorneys Meriel Darzen and Oliver Stiefel from the nonprofit Crag Law Center. 

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