Forest Service's Own Scientists Question the Relevance of Contested Trapper Timber Sale
Cascadia Wildlands
“Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild are currently in litigation over the legality of the Trapper timber sale on the McKenzie Ranger District of the Willamette National Forest. The timber sale was originally planned in 1998 as an experiment and proposes to aggressively log 150 acres of mature and old-growth forests above Blue River. New information not considered in the environmental review, including information about imperiled species, compelled the lawsuit. The plaintiffs are being represented by attorneys at Cascadia Wildlands and Western Environmental Law Center.
While reviewing court documents in the case, plaintiffs discovered a memo from prominent scientists at the Pacific Northwest Research Station to the Forest Service questioning the relevance of the project today. From the memo: “Research investment in learning from the Trapper units has been minimal. Therefore, we do not see substantial lost research investment or research opportunity by foregoing the Trapper units.”
The Eugene Weekly covered this story in its most recent edition and disclosed more details of the memo. Efforts by plaintiffs and the Forest Service to encourage Seneca Jones Timber Co., the purchaser of Trapper, to pursue less controversial timber volume in lieu of logging the timber sale has been unsuccessful. Please take action today encouraging the Forest Service to cancel the reckless timber sale.”
The Student Insurgent stands in Solidarity with efforts to defend out wildland areas!