LandWatch fights to protect wildlife habitat in the Ochoco Mountains from another threat
The beloved Ochoco National Forest and its precious habitat for elk, wolves, native fish and other species is once again threatened. Just over one year after Central Oregon LandWatch’s coalition victory in federal court to protect the area, the “Black Mountain” project proposes 22 miles of new roads and damage to riparian habitat without sufficient regard for the species that would be impacted.
This Earth Day, we are fighting back against a proposal that would damage wildlife habitat.
On Monday April 21, 2020, LandWatch, along with co-plaintiff Oregon Wild and aided by the Crag Law Center, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon against the Ochoco National Forest to protect the most sensitive habitat in the Black Mountain project area.
Ochoco meadow by Jim Davis
The Black Mountain project sits in the highest elevations of the Ochocos, wrapping around the east side of Big Summit Prairie. The project includes extensive forest thinning that aims to restore historic forest conditions after decades of unnatural fire suppression. But it also proposes damaging new roads and mechanical disturbance to riparian habitat along over 80 miles of streams. Those streams include the North Fork Crooked River, Peterson Creek, Porter Creek, and Allen Creek.
The Ochoco National Forest is beloved by Central Oregonians because it provides recreational activities like hunting, fishing, hiking, mountain biking, photography, wildlife viewing, and many more outdoor adventures. Its subalpine forests and cold-water streams are home to over 375 species of fish and wildlife. The Black Mountain project would disturb many of these species that rely on the Ochocos’ riparian habitat, including Rocky Mountain elk. Elk need large undisturbed areas with ample forage vegetation, which is often found near streams. Unfortunately, the Forest Service failed to identify and protect this important elk habitat.
The Black Mountain project threatens the same area that LandWatch and other groups recently defended from a proposal for a major new trail system for off-road vehicles. In that case, a federal judge ruled against the project because it would have harmed fish and wildlife, including redband trout, wolves, and elk.
“Now that the Forest Service has again approved a project that would damage some of the Ochocos’ most sensitive habitat, we are going back to court in hopes of overturning the portions of the Black Mountain project that would harm fish and wildlife the most.”
As frontline defenders of Central Oregon’s natural beauty for future generations, LandWatch remains vigilant in protecting wildlife habitat in the Ochoco Mountains.