Federal judge recommends striking down BLM's Western Oregon Plan Revision (WOPR)

Pacific Rivers Council and other conservation and commercial fishing organizations celebrated news on September 29 that the Bush-era Western Oregon Plan Revision (WOPR) had been found illegal by a federal magistrate judge.  WOPR would have dramatically increased logging on about 2.6 million acres of federal public forests in Oregon managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). 

Judge Dennis Hubel found that the BLM finalized WOPR without the required evaluation of federal fish and wildlife scientists on impacts to threatened and endangered species, including coho, chinook, and steelhead.  Judge Hubel recommended that WOPR be vacated, which would put the Northwest Forest Plan's standards and requirements for Western Oregon BLM lands back into place.  A separate district court judge must review Judge Hubel's recommendation and any objections from parties before the decision becomes final.   

"Protecting these forests is key to recovering Oregon salmon and steelhead," said Chris Frissell, Director of Science and Conservation for Pacific Rivers Council.  "BLM's original decision to issue WOPR was a legal and scientific mistake that we've finally been able to undo."

WOPR has been controversial since 2003, when the Bush administration settled a timber industry lawsuit over Northwest Forest Plan restrictions with the promise to issue a new plan that would allow much greater logging. 

In the Portland court, lawyers for BLM agreed with Pacific Rivers Council's attorneys that WOPR illegally ignored requirements designed to protect endangered species and their forest habitat.  Lawyers for intervening timber companies argued unsuccessfully to Judge Hubel that WOPR should remain in place pending a decision on a motion in a separate D.C. court. 

Earthjustice and Western Environmental Law Center represent Pacific Rivers Council, Oregon Wild, Klamath-Siskiyou Wild, The Wilderness Society, Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, Institute for Fisheries Resources, and Umpqua Watersheds as plaintiffs in this case.