Judge Won’t Dismiss Forest Service Suit

A judge has kept alive a lawsuit accusing the Forest Service of allowing logging that is pushing the bull trout toward extinction in four Western states.

U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones of Portland turned down the government’s request to dismiss the lawsuit. He ordered the Forest Service to report back Dec. 18 on its progress in protecting the fish on national forests in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.

The Forest Service has known since 1993 that the bull trout is significantly threatened by logging and other activities in the forests, Jones said in a ruling issued last week and made public Friday.

The judge did agree to dismiss part of the lawsuit, saying he lacked jurisdiction to review whether the Forest Service had considered new data on the status of the fish.

But he said he would allow the lawsuit to continue on claims the agency failed to protect the future viability of bull trout populations and allowed logging that degraded water conditions near bull trout habitat in violation of the National Forest Management Act.