Groups Challenge Oregon's Forest Practices

Five environmental groups have filed a notice of intent to sue the Oregon Department of Forestry claiming the Forest Practices Act does not adequately protect threatened coastal coho salmon in accordance to federal regulations.

In an 18-page notice announced this morning in Portland, the groups maintain the Forest Practices Act fails to do enough to ensure coho are protected from harm, take or harassment due to logging.

"The notice of intent for taking will emphasize the inadequacy of Oregon's environmental protection rules to protect coastal coho," said Chuck Willer, director of the Coast Range Association, one of the four groups named as plaintiffs in the notice.

In addition to the Coast Range Association, the Pacific Rivers Council, the Portland Audubon Society, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Association and the Native Fish Society have joined in hopes that a federal court will force the state to strengthen its Forest Practices Act. The plaintiffs are being represented by the nonprofit Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund in Seattle.

The possibility of a lawsuit already has raised eyebrows from the governor's office. Bob Applegate, a spokesman for Gov. John Kitzhaber, said bringing the issue to federal court is counter-productive to resolving logging, fish and endangered species issues in the state.

"We don't see these environmentalist lawsuits as a way to go," Applegate said. "They're obstructionist, divisive and tend to get people in their bunkers."

Applegate said the governor has implemented his own environmental agenda and has pushed for legislation that would help implement changes to the Forest Practices Act.

"We think that's the way to go in the harvest of trees," he said.

But Willer said a third-party lawsuit is the way to get the attention of the state and federal agencies.

"If you leave it up to (National Marine Fisheries Service), they're not going to sue," Willer said. "They don't have the funds to."

At the crux of the groups' arguments are the rules that govern logging near small and intermittent streams and on steep hill sides.

Regulations, he said, allow for eroding slopes to carry sediment and silt into fish-bearing streams and spawning habitat. That ends in the death or harm of coho salmon, Willer said.

Under rules adopted by the federal government in August, threatened coastal coho are protected from injury. NMFS has set standards that define take, harm or harassment of the fish or of its environment.

Those rules were adopted after environmental groups, including the Coast Range Association, filed suit against NMFS claiming the agency was negligent by not listing coastal coho as threatened.

A federal judge in San Francisco ruled in favor of the environmental groups and after an extensive public comment period, the agency adopted regulations in accordance to the Endangered Species Act. Those became widely known as the 4(d) rules.

This time around, Willer placed the onus in part on Oregon timber companies and said state regulations are behind the national curve in protecting endangered species. While Washington state and the federal government have worked out exemptions to the same 4(d) rules for timber companies in exchange for following a stricter set of guidelines, Willer said Oregon foresters never have.

"What I would say to the people of Coos County is that the very timber companies that own property down here have a higher standard of protection in Washington," he said during a brief visit to Coos Bay on Tuesday. "Why can they afford to protect the environment in Washington and not here?"

Rod Nichols, a spokesman from the ODF, said his office wouldn't comment on the notice until it had a chance to analyze what challenges are being levied.

"We have to see what they file and review it," he said. "At that point, we may be able to comment."

Nichols added that ODF has been going through an extensive public process to revise logging regulations through the Forest Practices Advisory Committee - an ad hoc group created by Kitzhaber to develop new rules governing logging in Oregon.

The Pacific Rivers Council, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, held an active seat on the committee. The rules were proposed last year at a meeting in Coos Bay and are currently being reviewed.

In addition to ODF, the notice of intent also indicates that the groups may file suit against the Secretary of Commerce for failing to enforce the 4(d) rules. The U.S. Commerce Department oversees NMFS and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

The notice is standard procedure for filing environmental lawsuits in federal court. After filing the notice, the groups have a 60-day waiting period before they can officially sue the ODF. The waiting period gives the department time to inspect the information.

While that happens, Willer said, part of the goal will already be achieved.

"The outcome is, they're going to have to explain their forestry rules," Willer said.