For Immediate Release 

March 11, 2022 
Contacts:
Meriel Darzen, Crag Law Center (503) 525-2725
George Sexton, KS Wild (541) 778-8120  
Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands (314) 482-3746 
Doug Heiken, Oregon Wild (541) 915-2329 

(Medford, OR) — Conservation Lawsuit Convinces BLM to Pull Controversial Timber Sale

The Medford District Bureau of Land Management (BLM) “Lost Antelope” timber sale would  have: 

• Removed fire-resilient old-growth trees located in the “Wildland Urban Interface” and  increased wildfire hazard to nearby ranches, farms and communities. 

• Conducted “regeneration” and “gap creation” logging activities that resemble  clearcutting. 

• Resulted in the establishment of dense young even-age timber plantations that tend to burn at stand-replacing intensity. 

In late 2021 conservation organizations KS Wild, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands and the  Soda Mountain Wilderness Council filed a legal challenge to the Medford BLM’s “Lost  Antelope” old-growth timber sale located in the Little Butte Creek Watershed near Medford  Oregon. In response to that lawsuit, and ostensibly to “consider new information, conduct additional analysis, and solicit further input,” on March 10, 2022, BLM withdrew the unlawful  timber sale decision record. The conservation organizations were represented by the Crag Law  Center in the challenge to the decision. 

“BLM’s decision to withdraw the project provides the agency an opportunity to work with local  communities and stakeholders to change course on this project and work toward common goals, including reducing fire risk and protecting old trees.” stated Meriel Darzen, Staff Attorney for  the Crag Law Center.  

The Lost Antelope timber sale would have increased fire hazard and fire-fighting complexity  through removal of comparatively fire-resilient large diameter trees with a large distance  between the tree canopy and the ground and the subsequent planting of a dense second-growth  timber plantation with decreased resiliency to fire. 

“As a Rogue Valley resident who had to evacuate while the 2020 Almeda fire burned down  hundreds of homes and business, I am disappointed that the BLM continues propose  ‘regeneration’ logging that will increase fire hazard near residences,” said George Sexton,  Conservation Director for KS Wild. “Forest and community resiliency are undermined by the  BLM’s ‘regeneration’ logging agenda.” he continued. 

“It shouldn’t take a federal lawsuit to get the BLM to listen to community concerns about forest  removal and fire hazard,” stated Nick Cady the Legal Director for Cascadia Wildlands. “The  BLM needs to get over its obsession with regeneration and gap-creation logging techniques and  start thinning the timber plantations they’ve already created,” he concluded. 

“The BLM’s plan to remove big, old trees and replace them with a small flammable timber crop  is exactly the wrong approach,” noted Doug Heiken of Oregon Wild. “Real restoration means  retaining mature forests for carbon sequestration,” he added. 

#Copies of the legal complaint and photos of the timber sale units are available upon request.#