Federal Judge Allows BMBP’s Challenge to the South Warner Sale and the 2021 Eastside Screens to Move Forward

On March 29, 2024, Federal District of Oregon Judge Ann Aiken handed down an Order allowing litigation filed by Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project against the Forest Service to move forward in federal court.

In October 2022, BMBP filed a lawsuit against the Forest Service over the South Warner timber sale on the Fremont-Winema National Forest, which relied upon an illegal 2021 amendment to the large tree protections of the Eastside Screens to log large trees up to 30 inches in diameter at breast height. This 2021 Eastside Screens Amendment was approved in the final days of the Trump administration via a rushed and illegal administrative process.

The 2021 Eastside Screens Amendment replaced a longstanding prohibition on logging trees greater than or equal to 21 inches in diameter at breast height and logging within old growth stands still recovering from a century of overlogging and federal mismanagement with a non-mandatory guideline. The new guideline allowed for the logging of trees up to 30 inches in diameter at breast height and provided little to no accountability for the Forest Service’s actions.

Following the final approval of the 2021 Eastside Screens Amendment—which was signed by then-Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment Jim Hubbard in an illegal attempt to contravene the Forest Service’s own public engagement processes—BMBP and its allies filed suit against the Forest Service in two separate lawsuits alleging numerous violations of a number of bedrock environmental statutes including the Endangered Species Act, the National Forest Management Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. BMBP’s claims focus narrowly on the illegal avoidance of the Forest Service’s own Pre-Decisional Administrative Review Process, but the Forest Service attempted to stop BMBP’s case by filing a motion to dismiss.

Judge Aiken’s March 29th Order in BMBP’s case allows BMBP’s case for move forward in federal court and reach a final decision on the merits. Judge Aiken’s March 29th Order in the further developed case brought by BMBP’s allies was a sweeping success for the environmental groups, with the 2021 Eastside Screens Amendment decision being vacated and the original mandatory large tree protections being reinstated. These rulings are a sweeping success for environmental groups dedicated to protecting the natural ecosystems of the National Forests in Eastern Oregon and Southeastern Washington.

Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project is represented by Staff Attorney Austin Starnes and Tom Buchele at Earthrise Law Center. Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project is a grassroots ecological protection group based in Eastern Oregon that monitors and challenges agency actions in order to protect public lands on the Blue Mountains and Eastern Oregon Cascades. Earthrise Law Center is the domestic environmental law clinic at Lewis & Clark Law School that provides legal training for future public interest lawyers and pro bono legal representation for not-for-profit environmental protection groups like the Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project.

Downloadable PDF of Judge Aiken’s Order: Dkt 42_Judge Aiken Order

Downloadable PDF of Magistrate Judge Clarke’s Findings & Recommendation: Dkt 38_Clarke F&R