Federal judge favors large tree protections for Eastern Oregon

By Joni Auden Land
Oregon Public Broadcasting
September 1, 2023
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A federal magistrate judge recommended on Thursday that the U.S. Forest Service stop cutting larger, mature-growth trees East of the Cascades.  The recommendations are a potential victory for six conservation groups that filed a lawsuit against the Forest Service last year, a response to a change made in the final days of the Trump Administration to allow the removal of trees larger than 21 inches in diameter.  A U.S. District Court judge will get final approval, and the Forest Service could potentially appeal the decision.  In 2020, the Forest Service changed a plan protecting Eastside Screens — a plan for managing about 8 million acres of land in Eastern Oregon and Southeast Washington — which had prohibited the removal of trees larger than 21 inches in diameter.  The Forest Service has said it needed to cut certain larger trees in order to prevent the spreading of wildfires.

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