For the last two years, Crag has worked with our client – the Northwest Environmental Defense Center and our co-counsel – the Washington Forest Law Center on a case to protect rivers in the Tillamook State Forest from the impacts of logging roads. On Wednesday of this week, Crag goes to court with our partners to improve salmon habitat and water quality for Oregonians.
Timber hauling on logging roads in the Tillamook State Forest grinds up the road surface. When it rains, ditches and pipes along the roads channel polluted stormwater directly into salmon rivers in the Tillamook State Forest.
The State of Oregon and the timber industry claim that those pipes and ditches aren’t regulated by the Clean Water Act and therefore they don’t need a permit despite the well-documented impacts of sediment pollution on salmon habitat and water quality. The Clean Water Act, however, is very clear. Any discharge from a pipe or ditch needs a permit.
Paul Kampmeier from WFLC will be arguing at the Pioneer Courthouse at 700 SW Sixth Avenue. in downtown Portland at 8:30 am. Chris Winter from Crag will be there to assist with the argument. Come see the legal process at work for Oregon’s prized coastal rivers and streams!