7 million acres of national forests
An update on our federal lawsuit
Map from the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Plans Amendment - Environmental Assessment, January 2021, p. 7
To save Central Oregon’s biggest trees, we are challenging a rollback of forest protections in federal court.
Over two years ago, the U.S. Forest Service made a decision under the Trump administration to remove logging protections for large trees on over 7 million acres of national forests in Central and Eastern Oregon and Southeast Washington. This decision ignored the established and growing body of science that shows the critical role large trees play in maintaining biodiversity and mitigating climate change.
That’s why, last June, Central Oregon LandWatch, along with Greater Hells Canyon Council, Oregon Wild, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Wild Earth Guardians, and the Sierra Club, filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging this decision.
After nearly a year, oral argument was held before Magistrate Judge Hallman on May 1, 2023. 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.
We’ll keep you updated on the decision as it unfolds.
Did you know?
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.