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Federal Judge Strikes Down Old Growth Logging Plan

Posted on: Wednesday, 3 August 2005, 15:00 CDT

SEATTLE -- A federal judge has struck down the Bush administration's 2004 decision to ease old-growth logging restrictions on public land in the Northwest, saying the government failed to properly consider what effect it would have on rare plants and animals.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman said in her ruling Monday that according to federal law, authorities had an obligation to show why the so-called "look before you log" restrictions -- requiring forest managers to survey for rare wildlife before logging -- should be eliminated.

Exactly what the ruling means for logging planned in old-growth forests remains unclear. The judge said she would not issue any specific injunctions until further hearings are held, and the U.S. Forest Service said Tuesday it hopes to salvage the new rules by fixing the problems cited by the judge.

"The agencies have an obligation ... to disclose and explain on what basis they deemed the standard necessary before but assume it is not now," Pechman wrote.

As part of a legal settlement with the timber industry, the administration eliminated the rule in spring 2004. The rule required forest managers to look for rare species before logging in 5.5 million acres of old growth and other forests in Washington, Oregon and California, and to impose certain protections, such as buffer zones, if evidence of rare wildlife was found.

Under the Bush administration's decision, instead of surveying for rare plants and animals, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management were to rely on information provided by the states in determining whether to allow logging, prescribed burns, and trail- or campground-building.

Source: Daily Breeze

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