4
CapitalPress.com
Friday, June 4, 2021
Lawsuit targets post-fire tree removal
Courtesy U.S. Forest Service
An environmental group claims the U.S. Forest Service unlawfully
approved the removal of hazard trees burned last year in the Rogue
River-Siskiyou National Forest.
preparation of an EIS or even an
EA,” according to the complaint.
The Slater Fire erupted in Sep-
tember 2020 and spread over
157,000 acres, including about
65,000 acres in the national for-
est, whose nearly 1.8 million
acres straddles the Oregon-Cali-
fornia border.
The project authorizes remov-
ing trees that are not only dead,
but those which have a poten-
tial to fall onto roads within five
years, the complaint said. Under
the standards used by the Forest
Service, “many trees that the proj-
ect authorizes for felling pose no
immediate hazard.”
More recent guidelines for
assessing post-fire tree status also
predict fewer trees will die based
on crown scorch than the stan-
dards applied by the agency, the
plaintiff claims.
Most of the damaged trees in
the project area will be removed,
LEGAL
UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
In re
Chapter 11
EASTERDAY RANCHES, INC., et al.
Lead Case No. 21-00141-11
Jointly Administered
Debtors. 1
NOTICE OF SALE OF PROPERTY BY AUCTION,
SALE OBJECTION DEADLINE, AND SALE HEARING
NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF EASTERDAY RANCHES, INC. (“RANCHES”); EASTERDAY FARMS (“FARMS”); CODY EASTERDAY
AND DEBBY EASTERDAY, HUSBAND AND WIFE, KAREN EASTERDAY, IN HER INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND AS THE PERSONAL
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF GALE EASTERDAY 2 (COLLECTIVELY, THE “EASTERDAYS”).
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE OF THE FOLLOWING MATTERS THAT MAY AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS:
On February 1, 2021, and February 8, 2021, respectively, Ranches and Farms (together, the “Debtors”), commenced chapter 11 bankruptcy cases (the
“Bankruptcy Cases”) in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Washington (the “Bankruptcy Court”).
The Debtors operate commercial farms and ranches that utilize multiple farms, feedlots, ranches, and other facilities that are commonly referred to as
Nine Canyon Farm, Goose Gap Farm, River Farm, Cox Farm, Farm Manager House, and Storage Complex (the “Property”). The Property is owned in part
by the Debtors (the “Debtor Property”) and in part by the Easterdays (the “Easterday Property”).
To maximize the value of the Property, the Debtors and the Easterdays determined that the Property should be marketed for sale together. Accordingly,
on March 26, 2021, the Debtors filed two motions with the Bankruptcy Court: (i) a motion to approve a cooperation agreement (the “Cooperation Agreement”)
between the Debtors and the Easterdays (together, the “Sellers”) and (ii) a motion (x) establishing a process to sell the Property and (y) to approve the sale of
the Property at the conclusion of such process (the “Sale Motion”).
On April 28, 2021, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order (the “Cooperation Agreement Order”) approving the Cooperation Agreement between
and among the Debtors and the Easterdays. On April 29, 2021, the Bankruptcy Court entered the Bidding Procedures Order which, among other things, (i)
approved procedures for submitting offers and bidding at an auction for the Property (“Bidding Procedures”), (ii) approved procedures for the assumption and
assignment of certain executory contracts and unexpired leases, (iii) scheduled a hearing on the sale, and (iv) granted related relief.
On May 19, 2021, the Sellers, entered into a purchase and sale agreement (the “Stalking Horse APA”) with Farmland Reserve, Inc. (“FRI” or the
“Stalking Horse Bidder”), pursuant to which, and subject to higher and better offers in accordance with the Bidding Procedures:
(i) the Debtors shall acquire the Easterday Property, upon which transfer all of the Easterday Property shall constitute
property of the Debtors’ bankruptcy estates in the Bankruptcy Cases and for which the Easterdays shall receive, subject to the approval
of the Bankruptcy Court, an allocable interest in the Net Sale Proceeds, as such term is defined in the Cooperation Agreement;
(ii) the Debtors shall sell, assign, transfer, convey and deliver to FRI, and FRI shall acquire and accept from Debtors, free
and clear of all Claims, Rights, and Encumbrances (as defined in the proposed Sale Order attached to the Stalking Horse APA), all of
the Debtors’ rights, title and interest in and to the Property; and
(iii) FRI shall pay $188,000,000 plus any transfer taxes or the like “Purchase Price” for the Property ((i) through (iii), the
“Sale”).
Also on May 19, 2021, the Debtors supplemented the Sale Motion with their motion to designate FRI as the Stalking Horse Bidder, approve the bid
protections in the Stalking Horse APA, and supplement the relief requested by the Debtors in the Sale Motion to include authorization for the Debtors to
acquire all rights, title and interest in and to the Easterday Property for the purpose of including the Easterday Property in the Sale, pursuant to the Stalking
Horse APA (“Supplemental Bidding Procedures Motion”).
On May 28, 2021, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order granting the Supplemental Bidding Procedures Motion, pursuant to which the Bankruptcy
Court (i) approved the Stalking Horse APA as the Stalking Horse Bid and FRI as the Stalking Horse Bidder, (ii) authorized the Debtors to enter into and
perform under the Stalking Horse APA, subject to higher or otherwise better offers by other qualified bidders, and (iii) approved the Debtors’ request to
supplement the relief requested by the Debtors in the Sale Motion to include authorization for the Debtors to acquire all rights, title and interest in and to the
Easterday Property for the purpose of consummating the Sale with the Stalking Horse Bidder, subject to higher or otherwise better offers by other qualified
bidders at an auction (the “Auction”) to be held on June 14, 2021, commencing at 10:00 a.m. (Pacific Time) (“Supplemental Bidding Procedures Order”).
THE BANKRUPTCY COURT HAS CURRENTLY SET JUNE 30, 2021 AT 4:00 P.M. (PACIFIC TIME) AS THE DEADLINE FOR ALL
OBJECTIONS TO THE SALE (THE “SALE OBJECTION DEADLINE”).
All objections to the Sale and related relief must: (a) be in writing; (b) be signed by counsel or attested to by the objecting party; (c) conform to the
Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and the Local Rules of the Bankruptcy Court (“Local Rules”); (d) be filed with the Clerk of the Bankruptcy Court, 402
E. Yakima Avenue, Yakima, WA 98901 by no later than the Sale Objection Deadline; and (e) be served in accordance with the Local Rules so as to be received
on or before the Objection Deadline by the following: (i) counsel to the Debtors: (a) Bush Kornfeld LLP, 601 Union Suite, Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98101,
Attention: Armand J. Kornfeld (jkornfeld@bskd.com) and Thomas A. Buford (tbuford@bskd.com); and (b) Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones, LLP, 10100 Santa
Monica Boulevard, 13th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90067, Attention: Richard M. Pachulski (rpachulski@pszjlaw.com), Ira D. Kharasch (ikharasch@pszjlaw.
com), Jeffrey W. Dulberg (jdulberg@pszjlaw.com) and Jason H. Rosell (jrosell@pszjlaw.com); (ii) the Office of the United States Trustee for the Eastern
District of Washington, 920 W Riverside Ave, Suite 593, Spokane, WA 99201, Attn: Gary W. Dyer (Gary.W.Dyer@usdoj.gov); (iii) counsel to the Stalking
Horse Bidder, Stoel Rives LLP, 600 University Street, Suite 3600, Seattle, WA 98101, Attention: Oren B. Haker (oren.haker@stoel.com) and Ellen E. Ostrow
(ellen.ostrow@stoel.com); and (iv) those parties who have filed notices of appearance and/or requested service of all motions and pleadings in these Chapter
11 Cases prior to the date of service thereof.
THE SALE SHALL BE FREE AND CLEAR OF ALL LIENS, CLAIMS, ENCUMBRANCES OR OTHER INTERESTS UNDER
SECTION 363 OF THE BANKRUPTCY CODE. THE ASSIGNMENT OF CERTAIN OF THE SELLERS’ CONTRACTS AND LEASES MAY
BE APPROVED AND AUTHORIZED BY THE BANKRUPTCY COURT ABSENT A TIMELY OBJECTION BY ANY PERSON OR ENTITY
CLAIMING AN INTEREST OR RIGHT IN SUCH CONTRACT OR LEASE. THE FAILURE OF ANY PERSON OR ENTITY TO FILE
AND SERVE AN OBJECTION ON OR BEFORE THE SALE OBJECTION DEADLINE MAY BE DEEMED CONSENT TO ANY SALE OR
ASSIGNMENT APPROVED BY THE BANKRUPTCY COURT AND MAY BE A BAR TO THE ASSERTION OF ANY LIENS, CLAIMS,
RIGHTS, ENCUMBRANCES OR OTHER INTERESTS IN THE PROPERTY SOLD, ASSIGNED OR OTHERWISE TRANSFERRED TO THE
STALKING HORSE BIDDER OR THE SUCCESSFUL BIDDER(S), AND MAY BE A BAR TO ANY RECOVERY AGAINST THE STALKING
HORSE BIDDER OR OTHER SUCCESSFUL BIDDER(S).
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR OF THE SELLERS OR A CONTRACT OR LEASE COUNTERPARTY TO ANY OF THE SELLERS, YOUR
RIGHTS MAY BE AFFECTED BY THE SALE OF THE PROPERTY TO THE STALKING HORSE BIDDER OR OTHER SUCCESSFUL
BIDDER(S). You should review the documents related to the Sale and discuss them with your attorney. If you do not have an attorney, you may wish to
consult one. Sale documents, including the Stalking Horse APA, Sale Motion, Bidding Procedures Order, Supplemental Bidding Procedures Order, and
proposed sale order, can be obtained through the Bankruptcy Court or by requesting copies from the Debtors’ bankruptcy counsel by email to Jason Rosell
(email: jrosell@pszjlaw.com). If you do not want the Bankruptcy Court to approve the Sale, you must file an objection with the Bankruptcy Court by
the Sale Objection Deadline as set forth above.
A hearing to confirm the results of the Auction and approve the sale of the Property (the “Sale Hearing”) will be held before the Honorable Whitman
Holt, United States Bankruptcy Judge, on July 14, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. (PT), or at such other time as the Bankruptcy Court permits, in the United States
Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Washington, 402 E. Yakima Avenue, Second Floor Courtroom, Yakima, WA 98901. Parties may appear at the
Sale Hearing by telephone. To make a telephonic appearance, parties must call 877-402-9757; code 7036041. The Debtors may adjourn or reschedule the
Sale Hearing one or more times with prior notice filed on the docket in the Bankruptcy Cases or without prior notice by making an announcement at the Sale
Hearing.
Dates set forth in this notice are subject to change, and further notice of such changes may not be provided except through announcements in open court
and/or the filing of notices in the Bankruptcy Cases. Interested persons or entities are encouraged to monitor the electronic court docket for further updates.
1
2
The Debtors along with their case numbers are as follows: Easterday Ranches, Inc. (21-00141) and Easterday Farms, a Washington general
partnership (21-00176).
The administration of the Estate of Gale Easterday is currently pending in Franklin County Superior Court, Case No. 21-450004-11.
S247685-1
with the National Forest Man-
agement Act, the complaint said.
The plaintiff may also pursue an
Endangered Species Act claim
after the required 60-day notice
period.
The plaintiff has asked a fed-
eral judge to overturn the project’s
approval and prohibit its imple-
mentation until the Forest Service
has proven it complies with envi-
ronmental laws.
A representative of the Forest
Service said the agency doesn’t
discuss pending litigation.
In a decision memorandum, the
Forest Service said the project was
necessary to abate hazards from
frequently traveled routes through
the forest.
The project aims to remove
trees that may eventually become
dangerous to avoid multi-
ple entries into fire-damaged
areas, the agency said. Seed trees
will be left standing in these
areas to provide natural forest
regeneration.
The “categorical exclusion” for
the project is permitted as a post-
fire rehabilitation activity up to
4,200 acres and was recommended
by an interdisciplinary team of
resource specialists, the agency
said.
Suit seeks to stop northeast
Washington forest project
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
A Colville National For-
est tree-thinning project to
prevent insects, diseases and
wildfire from spreading onto
an adjacent Indian reservation
in northeast Washington has
been challenged by an envi-
ronmental group.
The Kettle Range Con-
servation Group claims the
U.S. Forest Service should
do a more detailed environ-
mental study before logging,
according to a suit filed in
U.S. District Court for East-
ern Washington.
The group’s director, Tim
Coleman, said he doesn’t dis-
agree with the project’s goals,
but wants more assurances
the timber harvests won’t
harm the environment.
“In essence, the lawsuit
boils down to, the Forest Ser-
vice is saying, ‘Trust us.’ And
I’m concerned we don’t know
what they’re going to do,”
Coleman said.
The Forest Service declined
to comment on the lawsuit.
The Sanpoil project,
named for a Columbia River
tributary, includes commer-
cially logging about 5,100
acres. Other acres would be
thinned, but the trees would
have marginal or no value,
according to the Forest
Service.
Other land would be
cleared by fire or by hand.
The logging, controlled burns
and brush clearing would free
up water, nutrients and sun-
shine for other trees, making
the forest healthier and able
to survive bugs, diseases and
fires, according to the Forest
Service.
Republic District Ranger
Travis Fletcher approved the
Sanpoil project after an envi-
ronmental assessment con-
cluded it would not cause sig-
nificant environmental harm.
Fletcher stated his decision
was heavily influenced by the
project’s location, just north
of the Confederation Tribes of
the Colville Reservation.
The tribe-supported proj-
ect was proposed under the
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 819
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
06/07/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
B.C TOWING INC
2140 TURNER RD SE SALEM, OR
2020 UTILITY VS2RA TRL
VIN = 3UTVS2535L8893816
Amount due on lien $17,630.00
Reputed owner(s)
WESTERN AG INCORPORATED
MIDLAND STATES BANK
S245615-1
An environmental group
claims the U.S. Forest Service
unlawfully approved the removal
of hazard trees burned last year
in the Rogue River-Siskiyou
National Forest.
The Klamath Forest Alliance
has filed a lawsuit accusing the
agency of improperly “categor-
ically excluding” the Slater Fire
Safe Re-entry Project from envi-
ronmental analysis.
The complaint alleges that
logging trees along 146 miles of
roadsides without an “environ-
mental assessment” or a more
rigorous “environmental impact
statement” violates the National
Environmental Policy Act.
The project is expected to gen-
erate about 30 million board-feet
of timber — enough to fill 6,000
logging trucks — which is larger
than intended for a “categorical
exclusion” based on “repair and
maintenance,” the plaintiff said.
“The Forest Service has failed
to articulate a rational explanation
as to why such a major ‘salvage’
logging project constitutes ‘road
repair and maintenance’ such
that the Forest Service may avoid
eliminating more than 1,000 acres
of post-fire snag habitat for the
threatened northern spotted owl
and disturbing the ecosystem
more severely than leaving the
logs in place, the complaint said.
Even though the Forest Ser-
vice acknowledges the treatment
is “likely to adversely affect”
the spotted owl, it hasn’t con-
sulted with other agencies on the
impacts, as required under the
Endangered Species Act, accord-
ing to the plaintiffs.
The project also authorizes
logging more than 2,000 acres
of “late succession reserves” that
would normally be protected
under the Northwest Forest Plan,
the complaint said. The ecological
role of dead and dying trees must
be considered in such reserves.
Klamath Forest Alliance alleges
that “categorical exclusions” do
not apply to “a commercial log-
ging project of this scale, involv-
ing the removal of tens of thou-
sands of trees.” The adverse effect
on spotted owls is an “extraor-
dinary circumstance” that war-
rants environmental analysis, the
plaintiff said.
The Forest Service failed to
explain how logging in late suc-
cessional reserves is consistent
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS
CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder, on
06/07/2021. The sale will be held
at 10:00am by
COPART OF WASHINGTON INC
2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR
2019 FORD ECP UT
VIN = 1FMCU9GD5KUA72379
Amount due on lien $1,455.00
Reputed owner(s)
DOUG WOODWARD HEATING INC
ALLY BANK
S245611-1
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Colville National Forest
Cows graze in the Colville
National Forest in north-
east Washington.
Tribal Forest Protection Act,
intended to keep insects, dis-
eases and fires from spreading
to tribal lands.
The Kettle Range lawsuit
seeks a more-detailed envi-
ronmental impact statement.
It alleges logging and road
building would turn forests
into “clear-cut wastelands”
and despoil pristine wilder-
nesses and recreation areas.
According to the Forest
Service, loggers would cut
“smaller less vigorous trees
and those infested by patho-
gens” and would stay away
from old-growth areas.
If the logging produced
50 million board-feet over a
decade, 90 private-sector and
10 public-sector jobs would
be created, the Forest Service
estimates. The non-commer-
cial thinning would create 20
to 40 private-sector and 10
federal seasonal jobs.
The area has one grazing
allotment authorized for 328
cow-calf pairs. The Forest
Service figures that thinning
the forest will open up about
10,000 more acres suitable for
foraging cattle.
The agency has no plans
to permit more cattle on the
allotment, but each cow-calf
pair would have 33 more
acres to graze, reducing the
intensity of grazing, espe-
cially along water, according
to the Forest Service.
The suit alleges that
expanding grazing acreage
could be a problem because
wolf-livestock conflicts lead
to the state-sanctioned killing
of wolves.
The suit also alleges that
the Sanpoil project combined
with other forest projects will
have a cumulative effect on
the environment.
“This is not an indict-
ment of (grazing), an indict-
ment of the timber indus-
try or an indictment of treaty
rights or anything like that.
It has everything to do with
the way the Forest Service is
doing the project,” Coleman
said.
PUBLIC LIEN SALE
U-STORE SELF STORAGE
Auction Starts June 15, 2021
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Ends Friday, June 25, 2021, 10am
1st - 1668 Industrial Way SW
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Dobson Katherine, Y013; Michelle
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2nd - 1501 Hawthorne Ave NE
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RD03
S246880-1
