Logging

This case challenged BLM's proposal to clearcut and mulch some 50 square miles of old growth pinyon-juniper forest around the Mt. Wilson area of central Nevada. 

BLM claimed that the logging was needed to reduce wildfire risks in the "urban/wildland interface," even though there is no urban area in this remote part of Nevada -- and even though its plans would actually increase fire risks by cutting down live trees and leaving their shredded remains on the ground.

We won an injunction in 2004 preventing the Clearwater National Forest from proceeding with two adjoining timber sales in the Lolo Creek watershed of central Idaho, to protect habitat of imperilled fish -- including salmon, steelhead, and bull trout. 

Even though the Forest Service developed the two sales -- called "White/White" and "Brick/Trout" -- at the same time and they would affect the same watershed, it refused to analyze their cumulative impacts.  After we won the injunction, the agency agreed to withdraw the sales. 

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Lolo injunction

BLM proposed to log over 12 million board feet of old growth forests in the South Fork Clearwater basin of central Idaho, asserting that risks of beetle infestation and wildfire required the logging.  After a week long trial where we called several expert witnesses to show those arguments were not accurate, the federal court enjoined the logging and ordered a more thorough and accurate environmental analysis if the agency wanted to proceed.  See Idaho Conservation League v. Bennett, 2005 WL 1041396 (D.

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Whiskey South Injunction Order

Representing a broad coalition of national, state and local conservation groups, we brought this case in 1997 to stop Forest Service plans to log old growth forests in the Clearwater region of central Idaho -- including the headwaters of the Lochsa and North Fork Clearwater rivers.   The case focused on how logging and logging roads greatly increase landslide risks in the fragile soils of the area; and on the Forest service's over-logging of old growth habitat.