Oregon Public Broadcasting

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has given the green light for the Forest Service to log sections of old growth forest. The idea is to reduce the risk of wildfire.

The Five Buttes project would log thousands of acres of public land in the Deschutes National Forest.

The environmental group Cascadia Wildlands brought suit against the Forest Service.

In 2008 a District Judge halted the project. He ruled the timber sale would violate the Northwest Forest Plan, which was designed to protect the natural habitat of endangered species such as the Spotted Owl.

But today's ruling overturns that decision.

Dan Kruz is the legal director Cascadia Wildlands.

Dan Kruz: "They're logging millions of board feet of timber from these reserves and they're not designed for profit. They're designed for protection and for the species that rely on these old growth forests."

Kruz says his group is now reviewing the court's decision.

On the Web:

Opinion: League of Wilderness Defenders v. John Allen [.pdf]

Five Buttes Project

Cascadia Wildlands