“Once again, the courts have insisted that the Forest Service use science rather than politics and favoritism to protect our northwest ecosystems,” said Pete Frost of the Western Environmental Law Center. “We hope this ends the government’s attempts to roll back the protections the Northwest Forest Plan affords some of our last remaining old-growth forests.”

The Bush administration attempted to eliminate the Survey and Manage standard along with other safeguards as part of a settlement agreement with the logging industry over a lawsuit logging interests filed in 2001. Before a judge could rule on the merits of the case, the Bush administration agreed to the demands of the logging industry.

“The Bush administration's back-room deal with the timber industry was thrown out. The decision to eliminate protection for old-growth wildlife is enjoined, and now the Forest Service and BLM must take the common sense approach by ‘looking before logging,” said Doug Heiken of the Oregon Natural Resources Council, one of the plaintiff groups.

The rare and uncommon species protected by the survey standard live primarily in old growth forests. Of the 144 timber sales planned by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) implicated in the ruling, one-half would have logged old growth forests.

“This is a huge victory for people who value wildlife and the old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest. It’s time for the Bush administration to recognize that Northwesterners value our natural heritage and want to see it permanently protected,” said Rolf Skar, campaign director of the southern Oregon-based Siskiyou Project.

Judge Pechman’s ruling today vacates the Administration’s decision to eliminate the survey and manage standard, reinstates the standard, and requires that all timber sales on federal forests in western Washington, western Oregon, and northwestern California comply with the standard.

“If the Bush Administration wants to avoid doing pre-logging surveys for wildlife, they should stop cutting old-growth forests,” states Noah Greenwald, conservation biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Protecting all old-growth is a move supported by a broad majority of the public.”

“This ruling helps preserve an important system of checks and balances that helps protect our old-growth forests for wildlife, clean water, and future generations,” Dave Werntz, science director for Conservation Northwest.

“There are hundreds of species that are essential to clean air, clean water, and the health of old-growth forests. The Survey and Manage program, developed by some of the best scientific thinkers in the region, is a global model of conservation because it recognizes this important connection,” said Randi Spivak of the American Lands Alliance.

The plaintiffs on the case include: Conservation Northwest (formerly Northwest Ecosystem Alliance), Environmental Protection Information Center, Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Oregon Natural Resources Council, American Lands Alliance, Siskiyou Regional Education Project, Klamath Forest Alliance, Umpqua Watersheds, Center for Biological Diversity, Northcoast Environmental Center and Gifford Pinchot Task Force. They are represented by the Western Environmental Law Center and Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center.

The Western Environmental Law Center is a non-profit public interest environmental law firm that works to protect and restore Western wildlands and advocates for a healthy environment on behalf of communities throughout the West.