A federal judge vacated approvals for three major logging projects in Oregon and ruled that the U.S. Forest Service could not use a so-called “logging loophole” to approve large-scale timber projects in a decision filed Jan. 13. U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane said the Forest Service unlawfully used what’s known as a categorical exclusion to approve three timber projects totaling 29,000 acres in Fremont-Winema National Forest. …Conservation groups have increasingly said the Forest Service was using CE-6, under the guise of wildfire prevention, to avoid more detailed study of logging projects that would normally require going through a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. …He vacated the approval of the Baby Bear, Bear Wallow and South Warner projects. …Timber groups said they were disappointed by the ruling, noting that the projects were previously upheld in local and appeals court and that their primary focus was reducing the risk of wildfire.