Press Releases

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Northern Spotted Owl Critical Habitat Designation Fails Our Forests, Communities and the Species Itself

The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) today said the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s (FWS) critical habitat designation for the Northern Spotted Owl (NSO) illegally designates over a million acres of federal land that are not NSO habitat. This designation restricts active forest management and fuels activities designed to mitigate risk of catastrophic wildfire. In […]

Diverse Groups, Counties Defend Timber Management on State Trust Lands in Washington State Supreme Court Case

Counties, educators, labor and business groups and others are defending timber management on state-owned working forests against a legal attack in the Washington State Supreme Court. The entities filed separate amicus curiae briefs in Conservation Northwest v. Hilary Franz, a case that would undermine the Washington Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) fiduciary duty to manage […]

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Puts Politics Over Science, Wildfire Risks in Proposal to Reverse 2021 Northern Spotted Owl Critical Habitat Rule

The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) today said the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s (FWS) decision to withdraw the 2021 critical habitat designation for the Northern Spotted Owl (NSO) prioritizes politics over science-based solutions to conserve the species as it continues to lose habitat to severe wildfires. AFRC also says the decision illegally restricts active […]

U.S. Senate ‘Wild & Scenic’ Bill Makes Oregon Vulnerable to More Wildfire and Smoke

Oregon would be less safe from wildfire and smoke under congressional legislation to restrict forest thinning and management activities on approximately 3 million acres of federal lands under the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act, according to testimony from the American Forest Resource Council (AFRC). The bill, S.192, is co-sponsored by Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and […]

Magistrate Judge rejects key claims against Bureau of Land Management’s Thurston Hills Project

U.S. Magistrate Judge Mustafa Kasubhai today issued a preliminary ruling on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Pedal Power timber sale near Springfield, determining the BLM adequately analyzed and disclosed how the trail development, timber harvest, and reforestation efforts would affect the level of fire hazard and risk to the local community. The Magistrate Judge’s […]

Agriculture and forestry coalition moves to defend gray wolf delisting

WASHINGTON (May 21, 2021) — This week, a coalition of agriculture and forestry groups — including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Forest Resources Council, the American Sheep Industry Association, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and the Public Lands Council — filed motions in court in defense of delisting of the gray wolf under […]

U.S. District Court Decision Allows Shasta-Trinity National Forest Project to Proceed After Long Delay

The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) applauds a federal court’s May 17 decision allowing the U.S. Forest Service to proceed with the long-delayed Pettijohn Late Successional Reserve Habitat Improvement and Fuels Reduction Project on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest near Weaverville, CA. AFRC intervened to defend the project in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of […]

AFRC Welcomes Montana’s RY Timber as New Member

The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) proudly welcomes RY Timber as its newest member.  The company currently operates a stud mill in Livingston, Montana, and is one of the top structural lumber manufacturers in the state. In the spring of 2020, RY idled its Townsend, Montana sawmill citing a lack of timber to run at […]