Murrelets Halt Oregon Logging
In late June, a U.S. District Court judge in Oregon issued a ruling preventing Scott Timber from clearcutting a tract of old-growth forest that was previously part of the Elliott State Forest. The court found that logging the parcel would harm and harass threatened marbled murrelets, violating the federal Endangered Species Act.
The ruling stems from a 2016 lawsuit that sought to block Scott Timber from clearcutting 49 acres of a 355-acre parcel because of potential murrelet impacts. According to news reports, murrelets were documented in the 49 acre parcel more than 200 times by activist groups and Scott Timber’s own contractors.
Marbled murrelets are listed as “threatened” under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Yet in July 2021, state wildlife officials uplisted the murrelet’s state protected status from threatened to endangered under Oregon’s Endangered Species Act. Currently, the Oregon Board of Forestry is developing rules to protect murrelet habitat on state and private timber lands.
Related Articles
Latest News
Biofuels Project Sinks
The Red Rock Biofuels project in southern Oregon appears headed for foreclosure according to notices published in the Lake County Examiner newspaper in late December after the company failed to make principal and interest payments on some $300 million in debt. The notice set a February 4 payment deadline with a property auction scheduled for February 9. Originally scheduled for completion in 2017, the…
Industry Wins Black Hills Appeal of Reduced Harvest
Officials with the Black Hills Forest Resources Assn. (BHFRA) have prevailed in an appeal of a 2021 decision to drastically reduce future timber harvests on the Black Hills National Forest. In February 2021, the Forest Service (FS) Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins, Colo., issued general technical report (GTR) 422. The report detailed timber inventory assessments and projected growth rates that…
WANT MORE CONTENT?
Spanning seven decades since its inception in 1952, Timber Harvesting highlights innovative and successful logging operations across the U.S. and around the world. Timber Harvesting also emphasizes new technology and provides the best marketing vehicle for the industry’s suppliers to reach the largest number of loggers in North America and beyond.
Call Us: 800.669.5613