BLM drops appeal of ruling that found logging project risked ‘ecological disruption’

Editor’s Note: This article updates the status of a court case covered in the first installment of “The Last Stand,” a developing series about Bureau of Land Management forests around Eugene and Roseburg, as the Trump administration pushes to expand timber production in western Oregon. Stakes are high for local economies that depend on timber — and for old-growth forests that may never return. 

The Bureau of Land Management has dropped its appeal of a federal judge’s ruling that halted its Blue and Gold Harvest Plan, a nearly 3,400-acre logging project about 60 miles southwest of Eugene.

The American Forest Resource Council and the Association of O&C Counties, which filed a separate but related appeal to resume logging, have followed suit. 

BLM moved to voluntarily dismiss its case in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Oct. 7, and the timber groups did the same Oct. 23. A court clerk granted BLM’s dismissal Oct. 19 and is expected to grant the second in the coming days.

Opening briefs had been due Nov. 2. Court records do not say why the appeals were dropped. 

The appeals challenged U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai’s ruling earlier this year in favor of Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild and Umpqua Watersheds. 

The environmental groups sued BLM in September 2024, arguing the agency misrepresented old-growth stands as being younger than they really were, which facilitated illegal cutting. In May, after whistleblowers reported finding freshly cut stumps in one of the project’s timber sales that were larger than what BLM’s own plan allowed, the groups sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.

Kashubai ruled BLM violated two federal laws and vacated the entire project, meaning the agency would have to redo its environmental review to move forward. 

BLM did not respond to questions about whether the dismissal means dropping the project entirely. BLM spokesperson Sarah P. Bennett sent the following statement to Lookout Eugene-Springfield.

“The BLM plans to move forward without delay with our other forest management projects in the area, in order to meet our commitments under the O&C Act to provide a sustained yield of timber.”

The agency interprets the O&C Act — O&C refers to the Oregon and California Railroad — as a law that prioritizes 2.5 million acres for timber harvesting. Named for that railroad, the O&C lands are concentrated in Oregon, with nearly 40% in Lane and Douglas counties. The agency manages timber harvesting through the agency’s Resource Management Plans for northwest and southwest Oregon, which are up for revision. 

The BLM is revising that plan in part to advance the Trump administration’s orders to prioritize domestic timber production. A draft environmental impact statement expected in June 2026 has not been published. 

For additional policy details, read Lookout Eugene-Springfield’s explainer of BLM’s Northwestern and Coastal Oregon Resource Management Plan.

Regarding the appeals, American Forest Resource Council spokesperson Nick Smith reiterated the group’s belief that the Blue and Gold Project represents “responsible, science-based” forest management consistent with those plans.

“We elected to dismiss our appeal after the BLM decided it would no longer defend its own project. We remain committed to supporting responsible forest management on O&C lands and the rural communities that depend on these forests,” Smith’s statement read in part. 

In Kashubai’s final order, he wrote that he was “sympathetic” to both the potential economic impacts and BLM’s legal requirements to harvest timber. 

“However, these harms are insufficient to overcome the real risk of ecological disruption posed by BLM’s Plan to harvest those areas without adequately considering the presence of, and ensuring the retention of, ecologically, significant old-growth trees,” he wrote. “As the (resource management plans) recognized, those trees necessitate protection, and their loss could cause irreparable harm to the environment that BLM is required to prevent.” 

Environmental groups called the dismissals, and outcome at large, a legal victory. 

“Cascadia Wildlands is grateful to all the volunteers and supporters that helped us document and put a stop to BLM’s efforts to illegally log these old-growth forests. BLM promised to protect old-growth, and through this lawsuit, Cascadia Wildlands forced BLM to uphold that promise,” said Nick Cady, legal director for Cascadia Wildlands.

“I was awestruck when exploring the forests threatened by this BLM logging plan,” said John Persell, senior staff attorney at Oregon Wild. “These are ancient stands of trees that deserve protection, not destruction. Thanks to a lot of hard work and Oregon’s community of forest activists, they’ve been spared.”