A federal judge has shot down several environmentalist arguments against a 2,000-acre Oregon thinning project in the Mount Hood National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service found that thinning was necessary for forest health but the Bark environmental group filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Jazz timber sale last year.

The controversy centered on rebuilding about 12 miles of temporary roads, which Bark claimed would reactivate large-scale soil shifts known as “earthflows.”

U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez has rejected the group’s claim that the Forest Service inadequately studied this possibility. “At the recommendation of a slope stability specialist, all unstable and potentially unstable areas were examined and eliminated from the project,” said Hernandez.

The judge also disagreed that the agency insufficiently examined alternative methods of extracting trees, like using a helicopter. “The Forest Service explained that helicopter logging was considered, but not feasible due to the small benefit but high cost, and that the project allows opportunity for restoration,” he said.

While the agency acknowledged that the road reconstruction will deposit an additional 19 tons of sediment into streams, that’s an increase of about 0.01 percent, the judge said. Sediment from log trucks will be reduced by limiting hauls during times when runoff is most likely to occur, he said.

From Capital Press: https://www.capitalpress.com/Oregon/20140415/judge-sides-with-forest-service-on-timber-sale