The Slater Fire started in September 2020 in Southern Oregon and spread over 157,000 acres.
Removing the trees will also mean eliminating some habitat for the threatened northern spotted owl, the complaint said.
Even though the Forest Service acknowledges the treatment is likely to adversely affect the spotted owl, it hasn t consulted with other agencies on the impacts, as required under the Endangered Species Act, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiff has asked a federal judge to overturn the project s approval and halt its implementation until the Forest Service has proven it complies with environmental laws.
Capital Press was unable to reach a representative of the Forest Service for comment.
Klamath Forest Alliance Sues USFS Over Post-Fire Tree Felling
2 hours ago
Klamath Forest Alliance (KFA), a non-profit corporation based in California, is suing the United States Forest Service and other officials over a decision memorandum they passed which authorized “the felling of ‘danger’ trees affected by the 2020 Slater Fire along approximately 146 miles of identified travel corridors.” Scott J. Blower (Wild District Ranger), and Merv George Jr. (Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Supervisor) are also named alongside the United State Forest Service.
The decision memorandum, or DM, states that at-risk trees will be felled. It also details the area will be rehabilitated and restored through, “site-specific seeding and planting,” of various trees and plants in highly affected areas. KFA has taken issue with the fact that the Forest Service failed to publish the DM with an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or an Environmental Assessment (EA), which the plaintiff
April 6, 2021
50 Organizations Call on President Biden to Protect Tongass National Forest and Carbon-rich Forests Under U.S. Climate Commitments Biden administration expected to release international climate commitments ahead of Earth Day summit on April 22
Contacts Juneau, AK (Tlingit / Áak’w Ḵwáan lands)
50 organizations representing national and local conservation groups, commercial fishing interests, and the outdoor recreation industry, submitted a letter last week to the Biden administration calling for carbon-dense forests, including the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, to be specifically protected in the United States’ Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), a plan for climate action that is integral to the international Paris climate agreement. The NDC, which is currently being drafted by Biden’s climate team, will be presented to the United Nations later this year.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service itself estimates that there is a 96-100-percent probability that the population of western monarch butterflies will collapse within 50 years.
–This week, Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), Rep. Jimmy Panetta, (D-Carmel Valley), and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) wrote to the Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expressing concern with the recent decision to forego listing the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act and urging substantial investments in monarch conservation efforts so this crucial pollinator does not go extinct before protections are in place.
This monarch butterfly faces growing threats from the loss of milkweed and habitat, global climate change, and disease, according to Carbajal’s office. The most recent population count for monarch butterflies shows a 99.9-percent decline in population for monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains, which overwinter in California. Just two decades ago, rou
Wildlife groups ask court to restore protections for US gray wolves
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Gray wolf
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) Wildlife advocates are asking a federal court to overturn a U.S. government decision that stripped Endangered Species Act protections for wolves across most of the nation.
Two coalitions of advocacy groups filed lawsuits Thursday in U.S. District Court in Northern California seeking to restore protections for the predators.
The Trump administration announced in October that wolves were considered recovered from near-extinction across most of the U.S.
But critics of the move say continued protections are needed so fledgling wolf populations in Colorado and on the West Coast can continue to expand.