Stopping one of the largest logging projects in California’s history

last updated July 21, 2023

Burned trees provide many ecological benefits for forest regneration, wildlife habitat, and more. Photo by Klamath Forest Alliance.

In July 2023, Crag filed a lawsuit on behalf of Klamath Forest Alliance, Sequoia Forestkeeper, Conservation Congress, Earth Island Institute, American Whitewater, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Environmental Protection Information Center challenging a U.S. Forest Service logging project to remove hundreds of thousands of trees in Northern California that will cause significant environmental harm to public lands, wildlife, and wild and scenic rivers. The plan, known as the Region 5 Post-Disturbance Hazardous Tree Management Plan, would allow the Forest Service to cut and remove trees in 9 national forests, making the proposal likely the largest logging project in California’s history.

Mosaic burn patterns in forests like this one show that even within one forest, trees are in very different conditions. On the right, a volunteer measures the circumference of a still standing burned old growth tree. Photos by Klamath Forest Alliance.

Fueled by climate change, California has experienced large forest fire seasons in the last several years. In the wake of the 2020 and 2021 fires, the Forest Service authorized post-fire logging on over 400,000 acres of public land, including along trails, roads, and near facilities. Despite the Forest Service’s suggestion that the goal is to remove dangerous “hazard” trees from roads, almost 75% of the 5,700 miles of roads of proposed logging are along low-traffic, backcountry roads that people rarely use.

Two of Crag’s Wild program attorneys, Oliver and Meriel, standing in front of an old growth tree. 

What’s at stake

The impacts of this unlawful logging project are huge. From damaging ecologically critical areas, removing habitat for imperiled wildlife, degrading our water quality, to cutting community voices out of the process, we must hold the line.

Wildlife habitat: Standing trees (both alive and dead) within fire footprints, the area of forest where a fire has passed, provide significant ecological benefits. The California project area provides habitat to hundreds of species of flora and fauna including species protected by the Endangered Species Act such as the northern spotted owl, Pacific marten, Yosemite toad, and Yellow-legged frog to name a few.

Pictured: Northern Spotted Owl, Pacific Marten, Yellow toed frog. Photos CC BY 2.0

Natural forest regeneration: In addition to animal wildlife, post-fire logging significantly impacts the natural regeneration of plant life. Logging operations can introduce invasive plant species that spread aggressively in the fragile post-fire ecosystems, often outcompeting native plants and disrupting the cycle of forest regeneration. The removal of snags, seed trees, and new seedlings during logging operations also prevents the post-fire forest from naturally reestablishing forest growth.

Water quality: Commercial logging of this scale poses significant threats that degrade water quality. Cutting down and hauling away the remaining trees after a forest fire can cause soil erosion and landslides that dump sediment into nearby streams and rivers. Unfortunately, the Forest Service’s logging plan project area includes a total of 379 subwatersheds and 32 wild and scenic designated and eligible rivers – many of which will be negatively impacted by large scale logging.

Public Participation: Even more concerning, the Forest Service has continued to misuse regulatory statutes to authorize logging projects without public comment. For logging projects of such magnitude, public participation is not only a crucial step in forest management but required by law. Crag and our clients value public involvement and the inclusion of community voices. We will continue to hold the Forest Service accountable for how it manages our public lands.