Ruling: Old-Growth Timber Can Be Freely Logged

The timber industry can log thousands of acres of old-growth timber in the Pacific Northwest without environmental restrictions under a new law, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The law, signed by President Clinton last July, is known as the “salvage rider,” but all the trees affected by the ruling are healthy. The timber was sold to high bidders starting in 1989, but logging has been delayed by disputes over protection of the northern spotted owl and other wildlife.

“This case has nothing to do with salvage. That’s always been the subterfuge,” said attorney Kristin Boyles of the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund. “These are healthy old-growth trees. That’s why the timber industry wants them.”

The law required the government to allow logging of the previously sold timber without further review under environmental laws, such as those protecting endangered species, and without allowing suits under those laws.

The Clinton administration acknowledged that the law covered 410 million board-feet of green timber in Oregon and Washington, but disputed the industry’s claim to another 246 million board-feet on Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land in those states.

U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan agreed with the industry’s view of the law and allowed logging to begin last October. Hogan’s ruling was upheld Wednesday in a 3-0 decision of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In October, Clinton promised to pursue legislation overriding the decision, saying the rider was intended to speed only those sales that did not violate his administration’s environmental standards.

Overall, the salvage rider authorizes logging of 4.5 billion board-feet of timber on federal land nationwide. Much of it comes from trees that have been killed or damaged by fires and insects.

In light of Wednesday’s ruling, the Clinton administration is considering canceling the timber sales outright, said Peter Coppelman, deputy assistant attorney general for environmental and natural resources.

The disputed Northwest timber, involving 10,000 to 12,000 acres, is enough to build about 25,000 typical single family homes.

Up to one-third of the trees have been cut and removed since logging began in October and the rest will be logged this summer, said Chris West, vice president of the industry-sponsored Northwest Forestry Association.

The salvage rider expires in September.

West said the logging was “very benign” environmentally. The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, which represented seven environmental groups, disagreed.