A major Oregon timber project in a Northeastern national forest will be enjoined, but the impact on logging remains unclear.
A federal appeals court has ruled that the U.S. Forest Service unlawfully approved the 29,000-acre project in Oregon’s Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided that the Snow Basin thinning and fuels treatment project should be enjoined, but has not specified the scope of the injunction.
That task will be carried out by U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez, who previously found that an injunction was unwarranted because the project complied with environmental law. The 9th Circuit has now overturned Hernandez’s ruling but has given him broad leeway in deciding what activities should be blocked.
While the judge may decide it’s necessary to stop the entire Snow Basin project, he may craft a more “narrowly tailored” injunction to preserve the status quo, the 9th Circuit said.
From Capital Press: https://www.capitalpress.com/Oregon/20140513/timber-project-derailed-for-now