https://www.npr.org/2023/08/31/1197160846/judge-trump-era-rule-change-
allowing-the-logging-of-old-growth-forests-violates-

PENDLETON, Ore. � A federal judge has found that a Trump-era rule change
that allowed for the logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific
Northwest violates several laws.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Hallman on Thursday found that the U.S.
Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the
National Forest Management Act and the Endangered Species Act when it
amended a protection that had been in place since 1994.

The findings came in response to a lawsuit filed by multiple environmental
groups over the change.

Hallman recommended that the Forest Service's environmental assessment and
finding of no significant impact should be vacated and that the agency
should be required to prepare a full environmental impact statement
related to the change.

"The highly uncertain effects of this project, when considered in light of
its massive scope and setting, raise substantial questions about whether
this project will have a significant effect on the environment," Hallman
wrote.

The Forest Service didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The agency has two weeks to object to the judge's findings and
recommendations.

The protection changed by the Trump administration banned the harvesting
of trees 21 inches (53 centimeters) or greater in diameter and instead
emphasized maintaining a mix of trees, with trees at least 150 years old
prioritized for protection and favoring fire-tolerant species.

The area impacted by the rule is at least 7 million acres (2.8 million
hectares), approximately the size of the state of Maryland, on six
national forests in eastern Oregon and southeast Washington state.

The Trump administration said the change, which went into effect in 2021,
would make forests "more resistant and resilient to disturbances like
wildfire."

"We're looking to create landscapes that withstand and recover more
quickly from wildfire, drought and other disturbances," Ochoco National
Forest supervisor Shane Jeffries told Oregon Public Broadcasting at the
time. "We're not looking to take every grand fir and white fir out of the
forests."

The lawsuit, however, said the government's environmental assessment
didn't adequately address scientific uncertainty surrounding the
effectiveness of thinning, especially large trees, for reducing fire risk.
The groups said the thinning and logging of large trees can actually
increase fire severity.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Pendleton, Oregon, also said
overwhelming evidence exists that large trees play a critical role in
maintaining biodiversity and mitigating climate change and that eastern
Oregon is lacking those trees after "more than a century of high-grade
logging."

Greater Hells Canyon Council, Oregon Wild, Central Oregon LandWatch, Great
Old Broads for Wilderness, WildEarth Guardians and the Sierra Club were
all plaintiffs in the lawsuit with support from the Nez Perce Tribe.

Rob Klavins, an advocate for Oregon Wild based in the state's rural
Wallowa County, said in a news release that he hopes the Forest Service
will take this decision to heart and called on the Biden administration to
stop defending the Trump-era rule change.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing
federal land managers to identify threats to older trees, such as wildfire
and climate change, and develop policies to safeguard them.

As the Forest Service goes "back to the drawing board, we expect them to
meaningfully involve all members of the public to create a durable
solution," Klavins said.

--
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Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
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Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
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queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.