A Win in the Ochocos
Large trees, stream corridors, and habitat near Mill Creek Wilderness preserved, thanks to public advocacy
By Jeremy Austin, Wild Lands & Water Program Director
On August 12, 2024, the U.S. Forest Service issued its final decision regarding an important timber sale on the Ochoco National Forest.
From the outset, the Mill Creek Dry Forest Restoration Project raised concerns, failing to adhere to the Court’s direction following recent litigation related to the Forest Service’s management of large trees, riparian areas, elk habitat and road networks. However, the Forest Service ultimately made significant improvements to the project, providing meaningful safeguards for forest ecosystems and the wildlife that depend upon them.
Large trees, like these Ponderosa pines in the Mill Creek Wilderness, will remain standing thanks to LandWatch's advocacy and a sound decision by the U.S. Forest Service. Photo: Amy Stuart
An Important Step Forward
The Final Decision for the Mill Creek Project is an important step forward in working with the Forest Service to achieve positive ecological outcomes for the Ochocos.
Just outside of Prineville, the Mill Creek project area encompasses over 36,000 acres of the Ochoco National Forest, including the Mill Creek Wilderness, Steins Pillar, and mature forests that provide habitat for a range of wildlife including elk, mule deer, mountain lions, and even black bear.
The original project proposal included plans to log more than 98% of the project area outside of the wilderness, large tree logging across the project area, and extensive logging and road access in riparian areas and sensitive elk habitats.
In the fall of 2023, LandWatch submitted comments on the draft proposal, calling on the Forest Service to reduce the scale and intensity of the project, and to redesign the project to protect large trees, riparian areas, and sensitive wildlife habitat.
While the public awaited a response from the Forest Service, LandWatch and our partners successfully litigated the 2021 Amendment to the Eastside Screens — a 1990s era rule that provides protections for large trees east of the Cascade Crest in Oregon and Washington.
This important ruling meant that the protection of large, old trees should once again be the guiding Forest standard on the Ochoco National Forest and other national forests east of the Cascade crest.
Following the Eastside Screens win, public advocacy and meaningful engagement by the Forest Service resulted in significant modifications to the original proposal, and a final project with no large tree logging and important safeguards for riparian areas and wildlife habitats.
A Closer Look At The Process
If you’re interested in digging into the details, read on.
In March 2024, seven months after the release of the Draft Environmental Assessment, the Forest Service released the Final Environmental Assessment and a Draft Decision Notice for the Mill Creek project. LandWatch was encouraged by two important changes to the project; the proposal to remove all large tree logging from the project and to substantially reduce commercial logging in riparian areas. However, several concerns remained and LandWatch filed a formal objection to the project on issues related to wildlife habitat, road networks, and discrepancies between the EA and Draft Decision documents.
Two months after issuing the Draft Decision, the Forest Service notified objectors that the March 2024 Decision documents contained an error related to the number of acres proposed for commercial logging in riparian areas.
To remedy the purported error, the Forest Service proposed an astounding 900 percent increase in commercial logging within sensitive riparian areas. The number of acres swelled from 58 acres to 523 acres within Riparian Habitat Conservation Areas (RHCAs) — a protective designation established under the Inland Native Fish Strategy (INFISH) meant to protect forest streams from harmful logging practices.
The Forest Service recognized the issue of commercial logging in RHCAs as one of the Project’s key controversial issues, and the proposed change following the close of the objection filing period substantively changed the facts of the project.
Based on the substantive changes to the number of acres of riparian logging, LandWatch submitted an addendum to our original objection, expanding it to include new objection points related to riparian areas, wildlife habitat, and highlighting how the updated proposal was contrary to the law and recent direction from the courts.
While LandWatch maintained the position that the Forest Service’s proposed project was in violation of INFISH and the Ochoco Forest Plan, in an attempt to proactively work with the agency prior to the final decision, and reach a compromise, LandWatch reviewed the modified Decision Notice maps and tables and conducted a unit-by-unit analysis of commercial logging within riparian areas and import elk habitat. Through this analysis, we identified several proposed remedies that would resolve our objection to the project, while still allowing the Forest Service to implement the majority of the other project elements.
Key changes to the project LandWatch asked for included:
Remove commercial logging and temporary roads from RHCAs in 65 commercial units totalling 426 acres. These included all riparian areas with fish-bearing streams; perennial, non-fish-bearing streams; and ponds, lakes, reservoirs, and wetlands larger than 1 acre.
Provide more assurances for wildlife by updating the Project’s “Resource Protection Measures” for wildlife to include leaving 20-45% of treated units in unthinned patches for the benefit of wildlife, and apply this direction to all units within RHCAs.
Remove proposed temporary roads from RHCAs.
Protect elk calving, fawning and wallowing areas by applying resource protection measures to all locations the Forest Service identified as having a high likelihood of containing these important habitat elements.
Provide an explicit timeframe for when roads and temporary roads will be closed and/or rehabilitated following completion of the project, and include these stipulations as contractual obligations for timber harvesting.
Fence out livestock from all proposed floodplain and hardwood restoration sites.
Following a review of all the objections and addendums, and, after holding a meeting with all parties who objected to the project, the Forest Service agreed to modify the project and incorporate changes that largely resolved LandWatch’s concerns.
Major changes to the project between the original proposal and final decision included:
No logging of trees larger than 21” diameter at breast height
No skyline or helicopter commercial logging
No commercial logging in RHCAs that contain fish-bearing streams; perennial, non-fish-bearing streams; ponds, lakes, reservoirs, and wetlands larger than 1 acre.
No commercial logging on more than 1,000 acres of unroaded areas
Protecting all proposed floodplain restoration activities by building livestock enclosures around project footprint to keep cows out
Including contract clauses with logging companies to ensure all roads and temporary roads are closed and/or rehabilitate prior to moving on to the next project unit
Updating the Resource Protection Measures for wildlife to require 10-15% of all project units be left unlogged for the benefit of wildlife
Over the course of two years, the Forest Service made significant improvements to the Mill Creek project based on public input, providing important safeguards for large trees, riparian areas and special wildlife habitats. While initially it was not clear that the issues LandWatch raised were being adequately addressed, the resolution process and final decision notice showed the Forest Service was listening.
Through legal action and conservation advocacy, LandWatch helped secure meaningful safeguards for forest ecosystems and wildlife in the Mill Creek project area.
Ultimately, the Forest Service decided to adopt these safeguards and we commend the Ochoco National Forest for their work on this project, and hope to see future projects adopt similar provisions to help secure positive ecological outcomes for the Forest.
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