Timber Sale Ban Extended While Effect on Spotted Owl is Studied

A federal judge Monday extended a ban against U.S. Bureau of Land Management sales of old-growth timber in western Oregon until the agency assesses how logging affects the threatened northern spotted owl.

The order appeared likely to halt the sales at least until the middle of next year.

U.S. District Judge Helen Frye, who on Feb. 19 granted a temporary injunction against the sales, granted a permanent injunction at the request of groups who sued under federal environmental law.

Frye gave the BLM 30 days to make a timetable for drawing up an analysis on what the logging would do to the owl.

“It is not up to the court to evaluate or to discount the opinions of responsible experts in a scientific field,” Frye wrote in her ruling. “It is the duty of the BLM to identify, evaluate and address the new information, allow public comment, and formulate its plans accordingly.”

BLM spokesman Ed Ciliberti said it was not clear how soon the agency could be back in the timber business because agency managers have not decided whether new 10-year resource management plans scheduled to be finished by the middle of next year will fulfill Frye’s order.