EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Environmentalists have gone to court to block logging of an old-growth tract 40 miles north of Eugene because a pair of northern spotted owls are nesting nearby.
Two groups say logging would harm the red tree voles, a food source for the owls, a threatened species.
Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Eugene. It seeks a court order to prevent logging at the Trapper timber sale until the Forest Service prepares a new environmental assessment.
The Register-Guard reports the sale has been tied up in court battles since 2003. Trees in the 149-acre tract average 23 inches in diameter and 140 years old.
