Environmental groups challenge Oregon timber sale over voles
Three environmental groups are suing the U.S. Forest Service to stop an 847-acre logging project on the Umpqua National Forest in southern Oregon, about 22 miles southeast of Cottage Grove.
Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild and the Benton Forest Coalition filed the lawsuit May 16 in U.S. District Court in Eugene, Ore., arguing the Quartz Integrated Project threatens a small tree-dwelling rodent called the red tree vole, which is prey for the northern spotted owl.
“It is incredibly disappointing to again witness the Forest Service targeting mature forests to solely benefit private timber interests,” said Nick Cady, legal director at Cascadia Wildlands.
The lawsuit also names Alice Carlton, Umpqua National Forest supervisor, as a defendant. Kimberly Briggs, district ranger for the Cottage Grove Ranger District, signed off on the Quartz project in 2017, which was designed to improve the health of tree stands, increase fire resiliency, maintain meadow and aquatic habitats and provide for a timber sale.
The project includes 847 acres of commercial tree thinning, 374 acres of surface and ladder fuels treatment and 48 acres of meadow restoration. Most of the logging would be done by cable systems and helicopters.
In its environmental analysis and biological opinion, the Forest Service found that logging will likely impact the northern spotted owl, downgrading 349 acres of nesting, roosting and foraging habitat and removing 305 acres of dispersal habitat. However, the project “is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the spotted owl and is not likely to adversely modify spotted owl critical habitat.”
Red tree vole surveys were also conducted during the fall of 2016. According to the lawsuit, the Northwest Ecosystem Survey Team found 75 vole nests in the forests slated for logging, but the Forest Service decided to proceed with the project.
The red tree vole is already in a tough position, Cady said, due to past logging in Oregon’s Coast and Cascade mountain ranges. The North Oregon Coast population of voles is considered a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, from the Siuslaw River north to the Columbia River, due to habitat loss and fragmentation.
The Bureau of Land Management also lifted survey and management guidelines for the species in 2016.
“The Forest Service must do all it can to ensure its survival and cancel reckless timber sales like Quartz,” Cady said.
A spokeswoman for the Umpqua National Forest said the agency cannot comment on pending litigation.