ELR Citation: 55 ELR 20045
No(s). 6:22-cv-00767-AA (D. Or. Mar 31, 2025) (Aiken, J.)

A district court granted in part and denied in part summary judgment for an environmental group in a challenge to a BLM tree thinning and harvesting project in Oregon. The group argued BLM should have prepared an EIS and failed to take a "hard look" at effects on recovery and survival of the northern spotted owl; slope stability, sedimentation, and landslide risk; and cumulative effects of other projects in the area. The court found the EA provided a reasonably thorough discussion of effects on the northern spotted owl, and took the requisite hard look at the issue of sedimentation from landslide risk, but failed to explain how sediment from road construction would affect streams or the species within them, and failed to take a hard look at cumulative impacts of a neighboring project. It granted in part and denied in part summary judgment for the group, and granted in part and denied in part BLM's cross-motion.