BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2022 A5
LOCAL & STATE
Group, counties act to intervene in ‘eastside screens’ lawsuit
Harney, Jefferson, Klamath,
Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sher-
man, Umatilla, Union, Wal-
lowa and Wheeler counties.
Lake County Commis-
sioner Barry Shullanberger
said the original 21-inch har-
vest rule prevents the Forest
Service from reducing fuel
loads for wildfire, and allows
younger, more shade-toler-
ant tree species such as grand
fir and white fir to crowd out
older, fire-resilient species
such as ponderosa pine.
“By thinning trees up to 30
inches in diameter, this al-
lows a fuel break and provides
sunlight to come down to the
forest floor to give a chance
for new seedlings to grow
and provide our future trees,”
Shullanberger said. “There is
BY GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
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PENDLETON — A timber
industry group and coalition
of Eastern Oregon counties
is attempting to intervene in
a lawsuit that, if successful,
would reimpose a total ban
on logging certain large trees
in six national forests.
The case centers on a
rule known as the “eastside
screens,” adopted in 1995 to
protect wildlife habitat and
water quality on roughly 10
million acres in the Umatilla,
Wallowa-Whitman, Mal-
heur, Ochoco, Deschutes and
Fremont-Winema national
forests.
Part of the rule prohibited
cutting down any trees larger
than 21 inches in diameter.
However, the Forest Ser-
vice under the Trump ad-
ministration dropped the
21-inch standard on Jan. 15,
2021, five days before Presi-
dent Joe Biden was inaugu-
rated.
In its place, the agency im-
posed a more flexible guide-
line that generally priori-
tizes protecting old and large
trees, but allows land man-
agers to make exceptions for
projects to meet long-term
forest restoration goals.
Under the amendment,
“old” trees are defined as at
least 150 years, and “large”
trees are defined as 30 inches
in diameter for grand fir and
white fir, and 21 inches for
other species.
Six environmental groups
filed a lawsuit in June in the
U.S. District Court in Pend-
leton contending the Forest
Service’s decision was rushed
and lacked a full environ-
mental analysis, violating
both the National Environ-
mental Policy Act and Na-
tional Forest Management
Act.
Plaintiffs include the
Greater Hells Canyon Coun-
cil, Oregon Wild, Central
Oregon LandWatch, Sierra
Club, WildEarth Guardians
and Great Old Broads for
Wilderness.
The lawsuit names the For-
est Service, along with Pacific
Northwest Regional Forester
Glenn Casamassa and Ho-
mer Wilkes, USDA undersec-
virtually no new tree growth
under our large trees as it is
now, and that is due to the
Eastside Screens rule.”
Reinstating the 21-inch
harvest rule could halt several
logging projects meant to re-
duce wildfire fuels on at least
209,000 acres of land, accord-
ing to the AFRC.
Environmentalists argue
the rule is needed to prevent
losing more old-growth trees
in the Eastside forests.
“Cutting down the remain-
ing big trees harms salmon,
steelhead and bull trout by
removing shade and forest
cover that keeps rivers and
streams cool,” said Chris
Krupp of WildEarth
Guardians in a previous
press release.
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Felled trees are moved in preparation for being cut into log lengths and loaded onto a truck.
CALL US TODAY FOR
“By thinning trees up to 30 inches in diameter, this allows
a fuel break and provides sunlight to come down to the
forest floor to give a chance for new seedlings to grow and
provide our future trees. There is virtually no new tree
growth under our large trees as it is now, and that is due to
the Eastside Screens rule.”
— Barry Shullanberger, Lake County Commissioner
retary for natural resources
and environment, as defen-
dants.
Now, the American Forest
Resource Council and Eastern
Oregon Counties Association
is asking the court to inter-
vene, seeking to uphold the
Eastside Screens amendment.
A motion filed by the
groups on Oct. 3 argues that
vacating the amendment will
reduce the volume of available
timber, harming the region’s
economy, while simultane-
ously making overstocked
forests more susceptible to in-
sects, disease and wildfires.
Andy Geissler, federal tim-
ber program director for the
AFRC, said the Forest Service’s
more lenient guideline “allows
land managers the flexibility
to adapt to future unforeseen
conditions, including those
created by climate change,
drought, insects and disease,
and increasing, intense wild-
fires.”
The Eastern Oregon Coun-
ties Association includes 13
local governments in Baker,
Crook, Deschutes, Grant,
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