New Lawsuit Threatens Forest Management as Oregon Faces Another Summer of Wildfire and Smoke

A new lawsuit seeking to invalidate the Bureau of Land Management's Northwestern and Coastal Oregon Resource Management Plan for western Oregon's O&C lands threatens to delay active forest management across 1.3 million acres just as Oregon enters another dangerous wildfire season, the American Forest Resource Council said today.

The lawsuit asks a federal court to throw out one of two BLM management plans adopted by the Obama Administration in 2016 based on an alleged procedural violation of the Congressional Review Act. Although the plaintiff previously challenged these same plans in court and lost, they are now asking a judge to invalidate this 10-year-old plan entirely. If successful, the lawsuit would force the Bureau of Land Management back into another lengthy planning process and place active forest management across western Oregon into legal uncertainty.

"This lawsuit could not come at a worse time," said Travis Joseph, President and CEO of the American Forest Resource Council. "Western Oregon is entering another dangerous wildfire season and communities need more active forest management, not another lawsuit that threatens to delay it. If these plans are thrown out, the practical effect will be years of delay while the Bureau of Land Management starts over and forests continue to grow denser and more vulnerable to severe wildfire. This lawsuit puts our communities and forests at risk."

The O&C lands were established by Congress under the O&C Act of 1937 as working forests to be managed under sustained yield. Congress intended these lands to provide a permanent timber supply while generating shared timber revenues for western Oregon counties. For generations, that management supported family wage jobs, supplied locally produced wood products, and generated revenue that counties used to fund law enforcement, roads, public health, and other essential services.

That purpose is even more important today. Western Oregon has experienced repeated years of destructive wildfire and prolonged smoke. Current management plans already restrict active forest management across roughly 80 percent of the O&C land base, and timber harvest remains only a fraction of what these forests grow each year. As forests continue to become denser, hazardous fuels continue to accumulate and nearby communities face increasing wildfire risks.

The Department of the Interior recently announced its intention to revise these Resource Management Plans to better align management with the purpose Congress established for the O&C lands. That effort offers an opportunity to increase the pace and scale of active forest management while improving forest conditions, supporting rural jobs, and providing more stable revenue for county governments.

"People who live in western Oregon expect these forests to be managed," Joseph said. "They expect public lands to be cared for before wildfire reaches their communities, not after. This anti-forestry lawsuit threatens to delay the work that reduces hazardous fuels, supports rural economies, and helps protect the people who live next to these forests. Oregon cannot afford another decade of delay."

What is the lawsuit really about?

Plaintiff alleges that the Obama Administration did not follow the requirements of the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a 1996 federal law that empowers Congress to overturn newly issued federal regulations. The CRA requires agencies to submit final rules to both chambers of Congress and the Government Accountability Office before they can take effect, providing a 60-day window to introduce a joint congressional resolution of disapproval.

Plaintiff argues that because the Obama Administration failed to submit proper notice to Congress regarding the Northwestern Coastal Oregon Resource Management Plan, the management plan and all activities authorized by the plans are null and void. If successful, plaintiff is seeking to revert the management of the O&C Lands back to an extremely outdated resource management plan. This would require the BLM to go through lengthy planning and consultation processes required by federal law before any work can continue on O&C Lands.