A federal judge ruled last week that 24 timber sales in Oregon cannot go forward until the federal government ensures that they will not harm fish protected by the Endangered Species Act. The ruling, which came in a lawsuit filed in January by the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund on behalf of several fishing and enviro groups, found that the National Marine Fisheries Service had used a flawed process for determining whether the logging would put cutthroat trout and coho salmon at risk. Glen Spain, spokesperson for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, said the ruling could have a much broader impact on timber sales because the feds are using the same flawed process in other areas. Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt is clashing with enviros over the enforcement of habitat protections in the Endangered Species Act.
