American Forest Resource Council President Travis Joseph had the following to say regarding the Biden Administration’s announcement on policies relating to mature and old growth forests on federal lands: “This announcement and year-long effort confirms what we’ve known: we’re not lacking old growth, we’re lacking common sense in stewarding our forests. Our national forests and […]
Press Releases
Federal Judge Upholds BLM Rule Ending ‘Paperwork Protests’ of BLM Forest Management Projects
On March 27, U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane granted summary judgment in favor of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and upheld a 2020 Rule eliminating the agency’s protest process which previously resulted in unnecessary and bureaucratic delays to timber harvests and fuel reduction projects on BLM-managed lands, including more than two million acres […]
Ninth Circuit Dismisses Challenge to Forest Project on Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
On March 27, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision on summary judgment regarding a challenge the South Fork Stillaguamish Vegetation Management Project on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, allowing the project to proceed. The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) intervened in the litigation on behalf of Hampton Lumber Mills-Washington, […]
AFRC, Eastern Oregon Counties Defend U.S. Forest Service’s ‘Eastside Screens’ Amendment
Today, the American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) and Eastern Oregon Counties Association filed an opposition brief in a federal lawsuit seeking to vacate the U.S. Forest Service’s “Eastside Screens” Amendment that improves the agency’s ability to reduce wildfire risks and restore forest health on national forests in eastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. Last year, AFRC […]
Brief: Senate Committee Considers Bill Ensuring Transparency, Accountability in Leasing of State Trust Lands
The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks today held a hearing on SB 5254, a bipartisan bill to ensure transparency, accountability and public involvement in the leasing of state trust lands managed by the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR). What does the bill do? SB 5254 ensures that major DNR lease […]
District Court Rules in Favor of Tecuya Ridge Shaded Fuelbreak Project on Los Padres National Forest
An effort to reduce wildfire risks on the Los Padres National Forest and protect nearby communities can proceed after U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips today ruled in favor of the U.S. Forest Service’s Tecuya Ridge Shaded Fuelbreak Project above Frazier Park, Calif. The Tecuya Project has been tied up in federal courts for the […]
Anti-Forestry Rally in Downtown Portland: Misguided Policy Will Lead to More Wildfire and Smoke
Under the guise of “protecting” mature and old growth forests, several anti-forestry groups today are holding a rally in downtown Portland to pressure the Biden Administration and the U.S. Forest Service to issue new regulations restricting active forest management on overstocked and fire-prone national forests in Oregon and throughout the West. This policy would be […]
Washington DNR fails to disclose environmental, social impacts of carbon scheme
The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is rushing to approve a project to lease state trust lands to a private interest without conducting a thorough environmental review, and the agency is failing to consider the project’s impacts on funding for schools and other public services as required by the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). […]
The Facts About Flat Country
After organizing a kayak “flotilla” to protest the Willamette National Forest’s Flat Country project, anti-forestry activists continue to make false and misleading statements about the project. Here are the facts: The Flat Country would implement roughly 950 acres of regeneration harvest as well as over 1,500 acres of thinning- not “the thousands of acres of […]
AFRC, Eastern Oregon Counties Seek to Intervene to Defend Forest Health, Wildfire Mitigation
The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) and the Eastern Oregon Counties Association (EOCA) have moved to intervene in a federal lawsuit challenging the U.S. Forest Service’s “Eastside Screens” Amendment that affects forest management on six national forests in Eastern Oregon, including the Malheur, Umatilla, Wallowa-Whitman, Deschutes, Ochoco, and Fremont-Winema. In June 2022, six anti-forestry groups […]