Summer 2011 Cascadia Quarterly

CASCADIA WILDLANDS we like it wild.

PO BOX 10455 • EUGENE, OR 97440

summer 2011

US Postage PAID Nonprofit Org. Permit No. 82 Eugene, OR

summer 2011

news + fun from cascadia wildlands

CASCADIAQUARTERLY

McKenzie Forest Off the Chopping Block Wolves in Oregon Continue Uphill Battle Obama Does Not Defend BLM Logging Plan Community Calendar

what’s inside?

These beautiful publicly-owned forests above the McKenzie River are off the chopping block after a federal judge ruled in favor of our lawsuit. (j laughlin)

Virgin Forests Near McKenzie River Off the Chopping Block Lawsuit Halts the Egregious Trapper Timber Sale

September 22-25, 2011: Presented by Mountain Rose Herbs, Rootstalk is a threeday, three-night festival which takes place on 300 acres of old-growth forest just outside of Salem, Oregon. This is a unique celebration of herbal living, love of wilderness, homesteading skills, folk-infused music, plant lore, organic agriculture, and a return to community roots. All profits will be generously donated to Cascadia Wildlands to support its conservation work.

by Josh Laughlin, Campaign Director On May 24, a federal judge deemed the Trapper timber sale on the Willamette National Forest illegal. Magistrate Tom Coffin ruled in favor of our legal challenge to the Trapper project, agreeing that plans to cut 155 acres of ancient forests near the McKenzie River violated the law by impacting endangered species and failing to consider critical new information that arose since the sale was originally planned more than ten years ago.

The judge also found that the Forest Service’s analysis of impacts to endangered species failed to consider scientific critiques of the project, including critiques by the agency’s own scientists.

Our staff attorney Dan Kruse and Susan Jane Brown of the Western Environmental Law Center represented plaintiffs Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild in the case.

Additionally, the Forest Service logging plan at Trapper failed to protect dozens of red tree vole nests in the project area. The red tree vole is a small mammal that lives in the tops of large conifer trees. The voles are a major food source for the federally listed northern spotted owl and the law mandates protection for areas surrounding their nests. In 2006 citizen surveyors with the Northwest Ecosystem Survey Team (NEST) located dozens of red tree vole nests in the Trapper logging units, which the Forest Service refused to protect.

The Trapper timber sale has been the subject of controversy before. On two past occasions, Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild have successfully challenged the wildlife impacts opinion issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the federal agency in continued on p. 4

1

from Executive Director Kate Ritley

"In every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the seventh generation... even if it requires having skin as thick as the bark of a pine."

staff

This eloquent summary of the Iroquois concept of sustainability resonates with me on many levels, but it also elegantly summarizes Cascadia Wildlands’ approach to sustainability.

Sally Cummings

Operations Manager

Francis Eatherington Conservation Director

Dan Kruse

Like “green” or “healthy,” “sustainable” has become a vague term, often manipulated, misrepresented, or limited in scope to economics.

Legal Director

Josh Laughlin

Campaign Director

Kate Ritley

In fact, Big Timber claims to strive for sustainability. In late June they sued the Obama Administration, demanding a ten-fold increase in cutting on more than 2 million acres of publiclyowned western Oregon forests. Tom Partin, president of Big Timber’s lobby group the American Forest Resource Council, appeared in the newspaper, saying, “At a time when our mills need this timber to survive, it is outrageous that the Obama administration is directing the BLM not to sustainably harvest.”

Executive Director

Gabe Scott

Alaska Field Director

board of directors Kate Alexander, Secretary Laura Beaton Jeremy Hall, President Paul Kuck Sarah Peters Justin Ramsey Tim Ream Tim Whitley Steve Witten, Treasurer

The catch: when Big Timber says “sustainably harvest” they aren’t talking about the environment. They are talking about economics, in economic time frames of months, quarters, years, and maybe decades. Their version of “sustainability” is the antithesis of environmental sustainability.

Amy Atwood Jason Blazar Ralph Bloemers Susan Jane Brown Alan Dickman, PhD Jim Flynn Timothy Ingalsbee, PhD Megan Kemple Pollyanna Lind, MS Beverly McDonald Lauren Regan, AAL, Chair

contact PO Box 10455 Eugene, OR 97440 541.434.1463 p 541.434.6494 f info@CascWild.org 2

WWW.CASCWILD.ORG

advisory council

The same Register-Guard news story featured our Campaign Director, Josh Laughlin, saying, “This is yet another industry attempt to rob our future of the clean water we drink, the pure air we breathe, the recreation opportunities we seize, and the vital habitat needed to sustain dwindling populations of fish and wildlife. It is imperative that the Obama administration stand up to defend these critical landscapes and waterways that make Oregon such an iconic state.”

Cascadia Wildlands considers economics among many different factors that determine how land should be managed. But our bottom line is, and always will be, sustainability for many generations to come. When it comes to forests, rivers, and wildlife, Cascadia Wildlands is on the front lines speaking and working for the seventh generation. Your support keeps us there– thank you!

Thank you to all of our individual and family supporters and the many volunteers who help us protect wild places!

T Huge thanks to the foundations and community groups that have made substantial contributions to support our work:

444S Foundation Acorn Foundation Alaska Conservation Foundation

Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation Fund for Wild Nature

Mark Frohnmayer Donor Advised Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation

Astrov Fund

Kenney Brothers Watershed Foundation

Ben & Jerry’s Foundation

Klorfine Family Foundation

Roger Millis Donor Advised Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation

Brainerd Foundation

Laird Norton Foundation

McKenzie River Gathering Foundation

Deer Creek Foundation

Loeb-Meginnes Foundation

Meyer Memorial Trust

Earth Friends Conservation Fund

Mazamas

Burning Foundation

Sperling Foundation Suwinski Family Foundation Titcomb Foundation Unitarian Universalist Church of Eugene University of Oregon Outdoor Program Wilburforce Foundation Winky Foundation

Norcross Wildlife Foundation

BUSINESSES GIVE BACK A sustainable planet is essential to sustainable business. That’s why more and more companies are actively investing in Cascadia Wildlands. Business support saves wild places from imminent destruction and wildlife from extinction. Please join us in thanking and patronizing the visionary businesses that support our work with generous cash contributions:

Business Champions ($5,000+) Patagonia, Inc

Business Partners ($2,500-4,999)

Business Sustainers ($1000-2499)

Business Friends ($250-999)

Pivot Architecture Pizza Research Institute Tactics Board Shop

Backcountry Gear Ltd. Emerald Valley Kitchen River Jewelry Southern Explorations Sundance Natural Market

Mountain Rose Herbs

THANK YOU!

The Seventh Generation

In addition, hundreds of businesses contribute goods and services to support Cascadia Wildlands, especially through our annual Wonderland Auction. Please help us thank the businesses that support our work with generous in-kind contributions: Discovery Voyages Ninkasi Brewing Company Paul’s Bicycle Way of Life Cascadia Wildlands is a proud Recipient organization of 1% for the Planet, an alliance of businesses committed to leveraging their resources to create a healthier planet.

WWW.CASCWILD.ORG

Check out our website to stay in-the-know and connect with your community! Sign up for e-alerts, join the cause on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and instantly take action on timely issues! (And don’t worry, we absolutely never share or sell your info!)

7

6

Lethal Control and Industry Backlash Undermine Endangered Wolf Recovery

by Josh Laughlin, Campaign Director

First Mondays through May 2012: Ninkasi Brewing Company hosts “Pints Gone Wild” program to benefit Cascadia Wildlands. Half of all tasting room beer sales will go to support the conservation work of Cascadia Wildlands. The dates of the “Pints Gone Wild” first Mondays are August 1, September 6 (a Tuesday), October 3, November 7, December 5, January 2, February 6, March 5, April 2, May 7. The Ninkasi tasting room and patio are located at 272 Van Buren Street in Eugene’s historic Whiteaker neighborhood.

August 27-28, 2011: Catch up with us in the Community Causeway at the Eugene Celebration to learn more about our current campaigns and take action to bring back wolves!

October 1, 2011: 9th annual Hoedown for Cascadia's Ancient Forests, 6-10 pm, Avalon Stables in Cottage Grove. Get ready to stomp your feet and square dance into the night! Live bluegrass music with Eugene's Conjugal Visitors, vegetarian chili dinner and drinks included.

December 10, 2011: 9th Annual Wonderland Auction. EMU Ballroom, University of Oregon, Eugene.

For more events and additional information please visit www.CascWild.org

Similar to the spring of 2010, wolves of Oregon’s Imnaha Pack in Wallowa County recently found themselves at the end of the gun barrel after they were determined to be at fault for a series of livestock depredations. In 2009, we were able to halt the illegal trapping and shooting of two Imnaha wolves through a lawsuit filed on split-second notice.

This spring was different. For one, wolves in eastern Oregon are no longer protected under federal law. Earlier this year Congress passed an unprecedented law that removed protection for the species, leaving Oregon’s 20 endangered wolves subject to state-level management. When the Imnaha Pack was blamed for killing ten cows in northeast Oregon (out of 1.5 million cows in eastern Oregon), the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife deemed the situation “chronic” and issued kill orders for two pack members.

Without the recourse of federal law, we could not halt the state from killing these wolves.

The state also issued 24 “caught-in-the-act” kill permits to livestock producers around that time, although none have been used as wolves must be “caught in the act of biting, wounding or killing livestock.”

Since late spring there have

been no further lethal control efforts, however there has been a consistent push in the legislature to weaken protection for Oregon’s recovering wolf population.

With help from people like you, Cascadia Wildlands and our conservation allies defeated several anti-wolf bills introduced by industry lobbyists in the state legislature this spring. We frequently testified at committee hearings and educated state legislators about the fragile state of wolves. The bill that did pass both the House and Senate in June established proactive management fund for livestock producers who need non-lethal equipment to reduce conflict between wolves and livestock, like electric fencing, radioactivated noise boxes and other tools. The fund also compensates ranchers for livestock lost to wolves, but the ranchers must first show they have taken proactive efforts to reduce conflict ahead of time. Cascadia Wildlands believes the tools in this bill will help build tolerance for wolves as they to recover across Oregon. In the meantime, we continue using all available tools to defend Oregon’s endangered wolves.

ODFW

COMMUNITYCALENDAR

Wolves in Oregon Continue Uphill Battle

WOLVERINE Gulo gulo

For the first time in recorded history, the presence of wolverines (Gulo gulo) has been confirmed in Oregon.

The discovery came in May in the Wallowa Mountains after biologists set up baited camera stations days after discovering tracks in the area. The wolverine, also referred to as a skunk bear, is the largest land-dwelling species of the weasel family.

It has a ferocious reputation thanks to its ability to kill much larger prey.

Environmental advocates have petitioned for wolverine protection under the federal Endangered Species Act since 1994.

Under a historic agreement recently brokered by our colleagues at the Center for Biological Diversity the species is now on the fast track to federal protection.

3

NPS

Final Northern Spotted Owl Plan Released Improvement Over Bush Plan, But Shortcomings Abound

by Josh Laughlin, Campaign Director

On June 30, the US Fish and Wildlife Service released the long-awaited Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Plan. Previously Cascadia Wildlands and conservation allies, represented by attorneys at Earthjustice, filed suit against the Bush administration’s 2008 version. That plan was riddled with political interference and not driven by the best available science. The Obama administration opted not to defend it in court, instead deciding to go back to the drawing table and create a new recovery plan.

The recently released plan, which provides a blueprint for federal land managers to use in recovering the species, is an improvement over the Bush-era plan, yet still falls short in many regards. Critically, it does not recommend protection of the remaining native forest habitat critical to the survival of the species. It limits protection to quintessential old-growth forests over 160 years old. Forests in the 80-160 year age class are still on the table for logging. Recovery guidelines for state lands with forests critical to the owl’s survival, like the Elliott State Forest, appear to have no teeth.

Yet to be determined is the critical habitat designation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency will be analyzing data

from a high-profile modeling exercise to determine which locations in the 24-million acre Northwest Forest Plan area become designated critical habitat. Critical habitat is a layer of forest protection for listed species afforded by the Endangered Species Act. We expect a draft of critical habitat for the northern spotted owl by a court-issued deadline of November 2011.

continued from p. 1

4

charge of recovering endangered species. The courts found the USFWS had illegally issued opinions that would have allowed the Trapper timber sale to proceed despite negative effects to the species.

Since the recent ruling, the Forest Service has suggested to plaintiffs that it plans to contract out surveys for red tree voles in the Trapper units this summer to inform their decision whether or not to update the timber sale analysis and proceed withplans to cut this beloved area. We will

continue to engage this process until the destructive project is canceled for good.

Instead of logging complex rainforest on public lands in the McKenzie watershed, the source of Eugene’s municipal water supply, we believe the Forest Service should be spending limited taxpayer dollars on projects that restore degraded landscapes, like restoration thinning in tree plantations formed by past clearcutting, decommissioning harmful roads, and enhancing fish and wildlife habitat.

Obama Does Not Defend BLM Logging Plan New Plan for 2.6 Million Acres in Western Oregon in the Works

by Josh Laughlin, Campaign Director Like an epic ping-pong match, the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR) keeps going back and forth. On the books, off the books, legal, illegal. As of Friday, July 1, the Obama administration made its position official in a federal court briefing on the Bush-era plan that would significantly ramp up clearcutting in oldgrowth and streamside reserves across 2.6 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forestland in western Oregon: It is not going to fly.

In response to our coalition’s second lawsuit against WOPR, the BLM recently wrote to the court that it had made a “legal error” in its original WOPR decision, admitting that the plan’s “no effect” determination to endangered species was faulty.

However, in the briefing the BLM suggested that it would continue its efforts to revise the six forest plans across western Oregon. We expect a new public comment process to begin this fall and believe that a less contentious WOPR Jr. will result.

It is clear the Department of the Interior and BLM want to continue to cut large trees on our public forestlands in western Oregon, and they are getting creative in their approach.

During the back and forth over the past few years, the BLM has employed renowned foresters and architects of the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan, Drs. Norm Johnson and Jerry Franklin, to showcase their new “principles of ecological forestry” through a series of public meetings and pilot projects on BLM lands in western Oregon. In the dry forests, like those found in the Medford BLM district, their strategy is to protect the remaining old-growth forests and thin the unnaturally dense stands that have resulted from decades of fire suppression. This is an approach we generally support if done cautiously in the right place. In the wet forests, like those found on the Coos Bay BLM district in the Coast Range, their approach includes clearcutting forests up to 120 years old to allegedly benefit wildlife, like some songbirds, that prefer younger brushy habitat types.

Clearcutting forests over 80 years is typically in direct conflict with the habitat needs for the federally-protected northern spotted owl, which continues to decline at approximately 3%/year across its range. We have great reservations about the wet-forest clearcutting component of these “ecological forestry” principles. Cascadia Wildlands and colleagues continue to engage in the pilot projects through field trips and written comments. We believe the Franklin and Johnson pilot projects will greatly influence the forthcoming BLM plan revisions.

To complicate matters, Big Timber filed a lawsuit in mid-June suggesting that WOPR (which has since been found faulty by BLM) doesn’t do enough for them, even though the industry conceived the idea and has been pushing for it all along. Their legal complaint alleges that the 2.6 million acres of BLM lands should have one purpose only: logging. Big Timber seems to forget that the Endangered Species Act, safeguards of the Northwest Forest Plan, and other critical measures were put into place on these BLM lands for a reason: to thwart the looming extinction crisis. We continue to follow this frivolous case closely, and expect the ping-pong match isn’t Places like Wasson Creek in the proposed Devil's over.

Staircase Wilderness could be threatened under the BLMʼs new plan revision process. (t giraudier) 5

NPS

Final Northern Spotted Owl Plan Released Improvement Over Bush Plan, But Shortcomings Abound

by Josh Laughlin, Campaign Director

On June 30, the US Fish and Wildlife Service released the long-awaited Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Plan. Previously Cascadia Wildlands and conservation allies, represented by attorneys at Earthjustice, filed suit against the Bush administration’s 2008 version. That plan was riddled with political interference and not driven by the best available science. The Obama administration opted not to defend it in court, instead deciding to go back to the drawing table and create a new recovery plan.

The recently released plan, which provides a blueprint for federal land managers to use in recovering the species, is an improvement over the Bush-era plan, yet still falls short in many regards. Critically, it does not recommend protection of the remaining native forest habitat critical to the survival of the species. It limits protection to quintessential old-growth forests over 160 years old. Forests in the 80-160 year age class are still on the table for logging. Recovery guidelines for state lands with forests critical to the owl’s survival, like the Elliott State Forest, appear to have no teeth.

Yet to be determined is the critical habitat designation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency will be analyzing data

from a high-profile modeling exercise to determine which locations in the 24-million acre Northwest Forest Plan area become designated critical habitat. Critical habitat is a layer of forest protection for listed species afforded by the Endangered Species Act. We expect a draft of critical habitat for the northern spotted owl by a court-issued deadline of November 2011.

continued from p. 1

4

charge of recovering endangered species. The courts found the USFWS had illegally issued opinions that would have allowed the Trapper timber sale to proceed despite negative effects to the species.

Since the recent ruling, the Forest Service has suggested to plaintiffs that it plans to contract out surveys for red tree voles in the Trapper units this summer to inform their decision whether or not to update the timber sale analysis and proceed withplans to cut this beloved area. We will

continue to engage this process until the destructive project is canceled for good.

Instead of logging complex rainforest on public lands in the McKenzie watershed, the source of Eugene’s municipal water supply, we believe the Forest Service should be spending limited taxpayer dollars on projects that restore degraded landscapes, like restoration thinning in tree plantations formed by past clearcutting, decommissioning harmful roads, and enhancing fish and wildlife habitat.

Obama Does Not Defend BLM Logging Plan New Plan for 2.6 Million Acres in Western Oregon in the Works

by Josh Laughlin, Campaign Director Like an epic ping-pong match, the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR) keeps going back and forth. On the books, off the books, legal, illegal. As of Friday, July 1, the Obama administration made its position official in a federal court briefing on the Bush-era plan that would significantly ramp up clearcutting in oldgrowth and streamside reserves across 2.6 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forestland in western Oregon: It is not going to fly.

In response to our coalition’s second lawsuit against WOPR, the BLM recently wrote to the court that it had made a “legal error” in its original WOPR decision, admitting that the plan’s “no effect” determination to endangered species was faulty.

However, in the briefing the BLM suggested that it would continue its efforts to revise the six forest plans across western Oregon. We expect a new public comment process to begin this fall and believe that a less contentious WOPR Jr. will result.

It is clear the Department of the Interior and BLM want to continue to cut large trees on our public forestlands in western Oregon, and they are getting creative in their approach.

During the back and forth over the past few years, the BLM has employed renowned foresters and architects of the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan, Drs. Norm Johnson and Jerry Franklin, to showcase their new “principles of ecological forestry” through a series of public meetings and pilot projects on BLM lands in western Oregon. In the dry forests, like those found in the Medford BLM district, their strategy is to protect the remaining old-growth forests and thin the unnaturally dense stands that have resulted from decades of fire suppression. This is an approach we generally support if done cautiously in the right place. In the wet forests, like those found on the Coos Bay BLM district in the Coast Range, their approach includes clearcutting forests up to 120 years old to allegedly benefit wildlife, like some songbirds, that prefer younger brushy habitat types.

Clearcutting forests over 80 years is typically in direct conflict with the habitat needs for the federally-protected northern spotted owl, which continues to decline at approximately 3%/year across its range. We have great reservations about the wet-forest clearcutting component of these “ecological forestry” principles. Cascadia Wildlands and colleagues continue to engage in the pilot projects through field trips and written comments. We believe the Franklin and Johnson pilot projects will greatly influence the forthcoming BLM plan revisions.

To complicate matters, Big Timber filed a lawsuit in mid-June suggesting that WOPR (which has since been found faulty by BLM) doesn’t do enough for them, even though the industry conceived the idea and has been pushing for it all along. Their legal complaint alleges that the 2.6 million acres of BLM lands should have one purpose only: logging. Big Timber seems to forget that the Endangered Species Act, safeguards of the Northwest Forest Plan, and other critical measures were put into place on these BLM lands for a reason: to thwart the looming extinction crisis. We continue to follow this frivolous case closely, and expect the ping-pong match isn’t Places like Wasson Creek in the proposed Devil's over.

Staircase Wilderness could be threatened under the BLMʼs new plan revision process. (t giraudier) 5

6

Lethal Control and Industry Backlash Undermine Endangered Wolf Recovery

by Josh Laughlin, Campaign Director

First Mondays through May 2012: Ninkasi Brewing Company hosts “Pints Gone Wild” program to benefit Cascadia Wildlands. Half of all tasting room beer sales will go to support the conservation work of Cascadia Wildlands. The dates of the “Pints Gone Wild” first Mondays are August 1, September 6 (a Tuesday), October 3, November 7, December 5, January 2, February 6, March 5, April 2, May 7. The Ninkasi tasting room and patio are located at 272 Van Buren Street in Eugene’s historic Whiteaker neighborhood.

August 27-28, 2011: Catch up with us in the Community Causeway at the Eugene Celebration to learn more about our current campaigns and take action to bring back wolves!

October 1, 2011: 9th annual Hoedown for Cascadia's Ancient Forests, 6-10 pm, Avalon Stables in Cottage Grove. Get ready to stomp your feet and square dance into the night! Live bluegrass music with Eugene's Conjugal Visitors, vegetarian chili dinner and drinks included.

December 10, 2011: 9th Annual Wonderland Auction. EMU Ballroom, University of Oregon, Eugene.

For more events and additional information please visit www.CascWild.org

Similar to the spring of 2010, wolves of Oregon’s Imnaha Pack in Wallowa County recently found themselves at the end of the gun barrel after they were determined to be at fault for a series of livestock depredations. In 2009, we were able to halt the illegal trapping and shooting of two Imnaha wolves through a lawsuit filed on split-second notice.

This spring was different. For one, wolves in eastern Oregon are no longer protected under federal law. Earlier this year Congress passed an unprecedented law that removed protection for the species, leaving Oregon’s 20 endangered wolves subject to state-level management. When the Imnaha Pack was blamed for killing ten cows in northeast Oregon (out of 1.5 million cows in eastern Oregon), the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife deemed the situation “chronic” and issued kill orders for two pack members.

Without the recourse of federal law, we could not halt the state from killing these wolves.

The state also issued 24 “caught-in-the-act” kill permits to livestock producers around that time, although none have been used as wolves must be “caught in the act of biting, wounding or killing livestock.”

Since late spring there have

been no further lethal control efforts, however there has been a consistent push in the legislature to weaken protection for Oregon’s recovering wolf population.

With help from people like you, Cascadia Wildlands and our conservation allies defeated several anti-wolf bills introduced by industry lobbyists in the state legislature this spring. We frequently testified at committee hearings and educated state legislators about the fragile state of wolves. The bill that did pass both the House and Senate in June established proactive management fund for livestock producers who need non-lethal equipment to reduce conflict between wolves and livestock, like electric fencing, radioactivated noise boxes and other tools. The fund also compensates ranchers for livestock lost to wolves, but the ranchers must first show they have taken proactive efforts to reduce conflict ahead of time. Cascadia Wildlands believes the tools in this bill will help build tolerance for wolves as they to recover across Oregon. In the meantime, we continue using all available tools to defend Oregon’s endangered wolves.

ODFW

COMMUNITYCALENDAR

Wolves in Oregon Continue Uphill Battle

WOLVERINE Gulo gulo

For the first time in recorded history, the presence of wolverines (Gulo gulo) has been confirmed in Oregon.

The discovery came in May in the Wallowa Mountains after biologists set up baited camera stations days after discovering tracks in the area. The wolverine, also referred to as a skunk bear, is the largest land-dwelling species of the weasel family.

It has a ferocious reputation thanks to its ability to kill much larger prey.

Environmental advocates have petitioned for wolverine protection under the federal Endangered Species Act since 1994.

Under a historic agreement recently brokered by our colleagues at the Center for Biological Diversity the species is now on the fast track to federal protection.

3

from Executive Director Kate Ritley

"In every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the seventh generation... even if it requires having skin as thick as the bark of a pine."

staff

This eloquent summary of the Iroquois concept of sustainability resonates with me on many levels, but it also elegantly summarizes Cascadia Wildlands’ approach to sustainability.

Sally Cummings

Operations Manager

Francis Eatherington Conservation Director

Dan Kruse

Like “green” or “healthy,” “sustainable” has become a vague term, often manipulated, misrepresented, or limited in scope to economics.

Legal Director

Josh Laughlin

Campaign Director

Kate Ritley

In fact, Big Timber claims to strive for sustainability. In late June they sued the Obama Administration, demanding a ten-fold increase in cutting on more than 2 million acres of publiclyowned western Oregon forests. Tom Partin, president of Big Timber’s lobby group the American Forest Resource Council, appeared in the newspaper, saying, “At a time when our mills need this timber to survive, it is outrageous that the Obama administration is directing the BLM not to sustainably harvest.”

Executive Director

Gabe Scott

Alaska Field Director

board of directors Kate Alexander, Secretary Laura Beaton Jeremy Hall, President Paul Kuck Sarah Peters Justin Ramsey Tim Ream Tim Whitley Steve Witten, Treasurer

The catch: when Big Timber says “sustainably harvest” they aren’t talking about the environment. They are talking about economics, in economic time frames of months, quarters, years, and maybe decades. Their version of “sustainability” is the antithesis of environmental sustainability.

Amy Atwood Jason Blazar Ralph Bloemers Susan Jane Brown Alan Dickman, PhD Jim Flynn Timothy Ingalsbee, PhD Megan Kemple Pollyanna Lind, MS Beverly McDonald Lauren Regan, AAL, Chair

contact PO Box 10455 Eugene, OR 97440 541.434.1463 p 541.434.6494 f info@CascWild.org 2

WWW.CASCWILD.ORG

advisory council

The same Register-Guard news story featured our Campaign Director, Josh Laughlin, saying, “This is yet another industry attempt to rob our future of the clean water we drink, the pure air we breathe, the recreation opportunities we seize, and the vital habitat needed to sustain dwindling populations of fish and wildlife. It is imperative that the Obama administration stand up to defend these critical landscapes and waterways that make Oregon such an iconic state.”

Cascadia Wildlands considers economics among many different factors that determine how land should be managed. But our bottom line is, and always will be, sustainability for many generations to come. When it comes to forests, rivers, and wildlife, Cascadia Wildlands is on the front lines speaking and working for the seventh generation. Your support keeps us there– thank you!

Thank you to all of our individual and family supporters and the many volunteers who help us protect wild places!

T Huge thanks to the foundations and community groups that have made substantial contributions to support our work:

444S Foundation Acorn Foundation Alaska Conservation Foundation

Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation Fund for Wild Nature

Mark Frohnmayer Donor Advised Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation

Astrov Fund

Kenney Brothers Watershed Foundation

Ben & Jerry’s Foundation

Klorfine Family Foundation

Roger Millis Donor Advised Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation

Brainerd Foundation

Laird Norton Foundation

McKenzie River Gathering Foundation

Deer Creek Foundation

Loeb-Meginnes Foundation

Meyer Memorial Trust

Earth Friends Conservation Fund

Mazamas

Burning Foundation

Sperling Foundation Suwinski Family Foundation Titcomb Foundation Unitarian Universalist Church of Eugene University of Oregon Outdoor Program Wilburforce Foundation Winky Foundation

Norcross Wildlife Foundation

BUSINESSES GIVE BACK A sustainable planet is essential to sustainable business. That’s why more and more companies are actively investing in Cascadia Wildlands. Business support saves wild places from imminent destruction and wildlife from extinction. Please join us in thanking and patronizing the visionary businesses that support our work with generous cash contributions:

Business Champions ($5,000+) Patagonia, Inc

Business Partners ($2,500-4,999)

Business Sustainers ($1000-2499)

Business Friends ($250-999)

Pivot Architecture Pizza Research Institute Tactics Board Shop

Backcountry Gear Ltd. Emerald Valley Kitchen River Jewelry Southern Explorations Sundance Natural Market

Mountain Rose Herbs

THANK YOU!

The Seventh Generation

In addition, hundreds of businesses contribute goods and services to support Cascadia Wildlands, especially through our annual Wonderland Auction. Please help us thank the businesses that support our work with generous in-kind contributions: Discovery Voyages Ninkasi Brewing Company Paul’s Bicycle Way of Life Cascadia Wildlands is a proud Recipient organization of 1% for the Planet, an alliance of businesses committed to leveraging their resources to create a healthier planet.

WWW.CASCWILD.ORG

Check out our website to stay in-the-know and connect with your community! Sign up for e-alerts, join the cause on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and instantly take action on timely issues! (And don’t worry, we absolutely never share or sell your info!)

7

CASCADIA WILDLANDS we like it wild.

PO BOX 10455 • EUGENE, OR 97440

summer 2011

US Postage PAID Nonprofit Org. Permit No. 82 Eugene, OR

summer 2011

news + fun from cascadia wildlands

CASCADIAQUARTERLY

McKenzie Forest Off the Chopping Block Wolves in Oregon Continue Uphill Battle Obama Does Not Defend BLM Logging Plan Community Calendar

what’s inside?

These beautiful publicly-owned forests above the McKenzie River are off the chopping block after a federal judge ruled in favor of our lawsuit. (j laughlin)

Virgin Forests Near McKenzie River Off the Chopping Block Lawsuit Halts the Egregious Trapper Timber Sale

September 22-25, 2011: Presented by Mountain Rose Herbs, Rootstalk is a threeday, three-night festival which takes place on 300 acres of old-growth forest just outside of Salem, Oregon. This is a unique celebration of herbal living, love of wilderness, homesteading skills, folk-infused music, plant lore, organic agriculture, and a return to community roots. All profits will be generously donated to Cascadia Wildlands to support its conservation work.

by Josh Laughlin, Campaign Director On May 24, a federal judge deemed the Trapper timber sale on the Willamette National Forest illegal. Magistrate Tom Coffin ruled in favor of our legal challenge to the Trapper project, agreeing that plans to cut 155 acres of ancient forests near the McKenzie River violated the law by impacting endangered species and failing to consider critical new information that arose since the sale was originally planned more than ten years ago.

The judge also found that the Forest Service’s analysis of impacts to endangered species failed to consider scientific critiques of the project, including critiques by the agency’s own scientists.

Our staff attorney Dan Kruse and Susan Jane Brown of the Western Environmental Law Center represented plaintiffs Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild in the case.

Additionally, the Forest Service logging plan at Trapper failed to protect dozens of red tree vole nests in the project area. The red tree vole is a small mammal that lives in the tops of large conifer trees. The voles are a major food source for the federally listed northern spotted owl and the law mandates protection for areas surrounding their nests. In 2006 citizen surveyors with the Northwest Ecosystem Survey Team (NEST) located dozens of red tree vole nests in the Trapper logging units, which the Forest Service refused to protect.

The Trapper timber sale has been the subject of controversy before. On two past occasions, Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild have successfully challenged the wildlife impacts opinion issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the federal agency in continued on p. 4

1