daily 'em e ra Id
Vol. 82, No. 94
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Thursday, February 5, 1981
-1
Little top
It had only one small ring,
three performers, a couple of
trained dogs and an indepen
dent-minded cat billed as “wild
animals’’, but what the Royal
Lichtenstein Circus lacked in
size it made up in enthusiasm.
The show, called the world's
smallest quarter-ring circus,
made its annual appearance
Wednesday in the EMU cour
tyard before an overflowing
crowd of students, professors
and excited little kids.
The performers proved their
talents in a variety of circus
skills as they juggled, jumped
and joked their way around the
tiny ring, shooting one-liners at
the audience between fast
paced tricks and pranks.
Director answers lumberman’s charges
By MIKE RUST
Of the Emerald
Opponents of the University's
Environmental Law Clinic
stepped up their attack against
the clinic Wednesday, drawing
a quick response from clinic
supporters.
Eugene lumberman Aaron
Jones claimed that documents
obtained by the Foundation for
Oregon Research and Educa
tion under the Freedom of In
formation Act show that the Na
tional Wildlife Federation has
"veto power over the protests,
appeals and litigations initiated
and handled by the law school
environmental clinic.”
However, at a Wednesday af
ternoon press conference, clin
ic co-director John Bonine de
scribed Jones' accusation as "a
lie." The University law profes
sor says the documents used by
Jones dealt with old proposals
that were never enacted.
Bonine also spoke out against
charges Jones made against
the clinic to local labor officials.
Lane County Labor Council
leader Irv Fletcher made availa
ble to the clinic a list of 18 timber
sales and land-management
programs that were supposedly
opposed by the law clinic.
Bonine said the law clinic had
never heard of half of the timber
sales that allegedly produced
protests from them. In another
case involving an Alsea Land
Management Program, the ap
peal had been made by a timber
company.
In a case involving a Bureau
of Land Management timber
sale plan in the Coos Bay dis
trict, Bonine said a student had
testified independently. The
clinic was not involved.
Jones charged that Bonine’s
salary is half-paid by the Na
tional Wildlife Federation and
that Pacific Northwest Re
sources Clinic co-director Te
rence Thatcher's salary is entir
ely subsidized by the Federa
tion.
"This is completely false,”
Bonine said. “My salary is entir
ely paid for by the University of
Oregon. It’s a half-truth
because he’s talking about half
my salary, but it’s a half-lie.’’
Bonine disputed Jones’
contention that the clinic and
the Federation were damaging
the state’s economy by at
tempting to eliminate the timber
supply to mills.
Bonine pointed out that in
current litigaton in Idaho, the
clinic is protecting salmon runs
the coastal economy depends
on.
“This clinic has never caused
cancellation of a single timber
sale. Period Paragraph,” he
said.
Only three lawsuits have been
filed by the clinic in five years,
Bonine said.
A press release issued at the
time of Jones’ press conference
charges that there are only
three environmental law clinics
in the United States, all spon
sored by the National Wildlife
Federation. However, Bonine
displayed catalog listings from
nine schools with law school
operated environmental law
clinics.
The University’s environmen
tal law clinic is also "entirely
independent,” Thatcher said.
The clinic “makes no commit
ment to serve any particular
clients,” he added
Clinic standing challenged in Idaho suit
By GREG WASSON
Of the Emerald
SALEM — The University’s
Environmental Law Clinic may
be violating an Oregon statute if
it continues to represent an
Idaho wilderness group in a suit
against the federal government,
an Idaho timber firm claims.
The firm, Evergreen Forest
Products, Inc., claims the clinic
is acting as a plaintiff — not as
representing attorneys — in a
suit challenging government
plans to allow substantial
logging in a portion of the Snake
River drainage area.
The drainage area is an im
portant salmon spawning area.
Evergreen has asked the
Idaho Federal District Court to
declare the clinic, along with the
Idaho Wilderness Foundation,
as the real party of interest in the
suit.
And if the clinic is ruled a
plaintiff, it could be violating an
Oregon statute that requires
any litigation brought in the
name of the state, with a few
exceptions, be brought by the
state attorney general’s office.
A district court judge dis
missed the original suit Jan. 28,
ruling that the foundation
represented by the law clinic
had not claimed sufficient injury
to justify bringing the suit. In the
same ruling, the court refused a
motion to strike the claim that
the clinic could not be con
sidered a plaintiff in the case,
leaving the door open for further
litigation.
The foundation now has 12
days to refile an amended com
plaint against the government to
block the planned logging. The
foundation also will have to ar
gue before the court that the
clinic is not the real plaintiff.
However, opponents of the
clinic, such as Wilson Hulley,
executive director of the Foun
dation for Oregon Research and
Education, have been heralding
the court’s refusal to strike as a
major victory. Hulley said what
the ruling means is that when
the amended complaint is filed,
the University will have to be
listed as a plaintiff.
Assistant Attorney General
Jerry Casby disagrees.
Casby admits that the court
refused to strike the defense
that the University is the real
party.
“But that doesn't mean that
the defense is granted. The
ruling of the court is ‘no, I won't
do that as a matter of law,’ but
that doesn't mean he won't do it
later,” Casby says. "Any denial
of this type can’t be read as an
affirmative.”
Even if the clinic is con
sidered a plaintiff in the suit,
Casby said that won't automat
ically mean the University is
violating state statutes.
"That’s a judgment that will
have to be made when it oc
curs,” he said. "Again, there is
so much in this area of civil
procedure that depends totally
on the context in which the
order is made. I just don’t know
what the effect of that will be.”
If the judge does eventually
rule that the clinic is the real
party of interest, John Bonine,
co-director of the clinic,
promises to appeal the decision
to the federal Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals.