Updates
Victory for Large Trees Affirmed
On March 29, essential protections for large trees in eastern Oregon and eastern Washington were fully reinstated!
73,000 acres of Ochoco National Forest in question
This past fall, we were concerned to see a series of projects proposing large tree logging across a total of 73,000 acres on the Ochoco National Forest.
It's time to define the future of Deschutes County
What do we want Deschutes County to look like in 20 years? The County is asking for your input on its draft update to the Comprehensive Plan.
We won! Big trees protected across 7 million acres of national forestland
On August 31, a federal judge made a sweeping recommendation to set aside an illegal Forest Service rule change made under the Trump administration.
Press Release: Federal protections for big trees
Today, a federal judge made a sweeping recommendation to set aside an illegal Forest Service change to the Eastside Screens - a longstanding set of rules to protect old growth on six national forests in Eastern Oregon and Washington.
Habitat should be a higher priority for Deschutes National Forest
Will the Forest Service choose to be a dedicated partner on wildlife crossing projects in Central Oregon?
Losing migration corridors
Reducing hiding cover to 13% in migration corridors is a drastic loss of habitat. This is only a fraction of the necessary forest cover mule deer need to survive.
An update on the Green Ridge Project
We’ve been monitoring the Green Ridge Project proposed by the Forest Service since 2017. This project involves thinning and logging on nearly 25,000 acres of national forest just north of Sisters in the Metolius Watershed.
Concerns over the Cougar Rock Project
The Cougar Rock Project is a proposed project located near Black Butte on the Deschutes National Forest that proposes to conduct “thinning, mowings, and prescribed burning” on around 3,000 acres, primarily within mule deer winter range.
7 million acres of national forests
After nearly a year, oral argument was held before Magistrate Judge Halmann on May 1. We were represented by Crag Law Center at the U.S District Court in Pendleton, challenging the Forest Service’s unlawful repeal of the “21-inch rule” that opened up over 7 million acres of national forest to large-tree logging.
Press Release: Over 122,000 call on federal government to protect older forests from logging
Environmental groups, including LandWatch, delivered more than 122,000 public comments urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to protect mature and old-growth forests and trees on federal public lands from logging as a cornerstone of U.S. climate policy.
A national call to protect old-growth forests
Forests pull carbon out of the atmosphere, and it accumulates in living trees and soil. In this way, mature forests act as carbon sinks, where the world’s forests absorb a net 7.6 billion metric tonnes of CO2 per year. Let the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management know large trees are worth more standing.
We just filed a lawsuit to protect 7 million acres of national forests
Determined to protect Oregon’s biggest trees east of the Cascades, LandWatch and five other environmental organizations filed a lawsuit against the Forest Service over its decision to allow logging of large and old trees in national forests across Central and Eastern Oregon.
Press Release: Lawsuit filed to protect big trees in Oregon and Washington
For immediate release. Determined to save Oregon’s biggest trees that remain, LandWatch and five other environmental organizations filed a lawsuit against the Forest Service over its decision to allow logging of large and old trees on national forests across Central and Eastern Oregon.
Here's the latest on forests, farmland, and climate
What's happening behind the scenes? This week, we've got a series of on-the-ground updates for Central Oregon.
How big trees can help fight climate change
If left to age, the mature, large trees in Oregon’s eastern forests can play a big role in combating climate change. In a study on national forest land in Oregon’s forests east of the Cascade Range, large-diameter trees accounted for only 3% of trees but stored 42% of the total above-ground carbon.
Let’s not lose another big tree
What happened along Phil’s trail should never happen again in Oregon’s national forests. Despite the public outcry and demands to leave these big trees standing, the marked trees were logged last week. Like you, we are devastated by this news.
Commercial logging on Phil’s Trail?
Why are the biggest, oldest trees marked for removal in the Deschutes National Forest?
Defending Habitat in Deschutes National Forest
Two recently released forest service project plans have caught our eye. The Green Ridge Project and the Klone Management Project both seek to weaken protections for mule deer habitat by reducing deer hiding coverage below 30%.
Another logging project in the Metolius?
We began monitoring the Green Ridge Project near the Metolius Basin in 2017. Now, the current plan preferred by the Sisters’ Ranger District would impact 19,991 acres with thinning and logging throughout the entire project landscape. Take action for the forest today!