Beginning in late 2001, the timber industry mounted an aggressive timber industry campaign to increase the amount of timber cut from Northwest federal forests by weakening protections for salmon, clean water, and old-growth forests. In December 2001, Jim Connaughton, Director of the Council on Environmental Quality, Mark Rey, Undersecretary of Agriculture, Ann Klee, Counselor to Secretary Gale Norton, and other government officials flew to Oregon to meet with timber industry lobbyists.

The timber industry, led by American Forest Resource Council, demanded that the amount of timber cut from Northwest forests triple to 1.1 billion board feet of timber and identified five environmental safeguards that had to be weakened or eliminated to get to this goal. In the end, the Bush Administration agreed to all of industry's demands, including: (1) sweeping changes in Northwest forest management in sweetheart settlements of "friendly" industry lawsuits; and (2) weaken salmon and clean water protections in order to undo court rulings that require greater protection. It has since been implementing its promises, allowing politics to trump science at every turn.

The industry negotiations are revealed in documents released on April 18, 2003 in response to a Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") lawsuit brought by Earthjustice on behalf of Conservation Northwest, Oregon Wild, and Biodiversity Northwest, and obtained through discovery in subsequent litigation challenging one of the rollbacks. The documents are available upon request from Earthjustice.

Five Specific Timber Industry Demands to Weaken or Eliminate Environmental Safeguards:
1. Weaken the Aquatic Conservation Strategy (ACS) by amending the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) to eliminate the requirement that timber sales must protect salmon habitat and change Endangered Species Act consultations to make it easier for logging that harms salmon watersheds to occur.

2. Eliminate the survey and manage program by amending the NWFP to discontinue the surveys for rare species, remove protection for them, and "return management discretion to local managers."

3. Weaken Northern Spotted Owl Endangered Species Act Protections by completing a status review of the Northern Spotted Owl and re-designating critical habitat based on economic effects analysis and on the new theory that Northern Spotted Owl habitat extends to younger stands, which are more plentiful than old-growth, and "[w]ith more habitat available, less of it can justifiably be considered critical."

4. Weaken Marbled Murrelet Endangered Species Act Protections by completing a status review and re-designating critical habitat based on economic effects analysis.

5. Weaken Ecosystem and Species Protections on BLM O&C Lands by amending the NWFP to eliminate old-growth and riparian reserves on O&C lands unless needed to avoid jeopardy to threatened and endangered species and revert to pre-1994 position that timber production is the dominant use of those lands. O&C lands are Oregon and California Railroad lands that revested in the United States in 1916 when the railroad failed to comply with the terms of its land grant.

The Process: At first, the Bush Administration agreed to only two of industry's demands. On August 14, 2002, the timber industry submitted a response, declaring that the federal settlement offer is not sufficient to produce 1.1 billion board feet (bbf) per year.

* The timber industry calls the government's survey and manage offer "satisfactory" and indicates that it could lead to a settlement of the industry survey and manage challenge.

* The timber industry "applauds the offer by the Administration to pursue" a NWFP amendment to weaken the ACS and a refinement of the ESA consultation for logging affecting salmon and other aquatic species.

* "Welcome as the proposals in the government letter are, the coalition is unable to conclude that these initiatives alone will achieve the coalition's goal of 1.1. bbf per year of Northwest Forest Plan timber sales. . . . [A]dditional measures are required to achieve the 1.1. bbf goal."


The timber industry insisted on weakening three other aspects of the Northwest Forest Plan.

* Northern Spotted Owl - Eliminate critical habitat in the matrix lands where logging may occur to "significantly expedite timber sales throughout the region." Revise critical habitat based on economic analysis and review the owl listing based on scientific studies the industry believes call for less protection for the owl. "Any reduction in acres protected for the Northern Spotted Owl increases the timber production of the Northwest Forest Plan."

* Marbled Murrelet - Revise critical habitat based on economic analysis and re-evaluate the murrelet listing. "Freeing matrix lands from murrelet critical habitat consultations, and any reduction in the acres protected for the benefit of the murrelet, would increase the timber production potential of the Northwest Forest Plan." . . . "a 5 year status review and a reexamination of critical habitat for the Northern Spotted Owl and the Marbled Murrelet are essential to achieving the 1.1 bbf timber sale goal."

* BLM O&C Lands - Amend the Northwest Forest Plan to make timber production the dominant use of BLM O&C lands and to eliminate most old-growth and riparian reserves on such lands. The timber industry called this "a potent tool for achieving the 1.1.bbf goal" and asserted that it would be impossible to produce the desired timber volumes without reducing reserves on O&C lands.

The Administration Delivers: The Administration agreed to pursue all the weakening actions demanded by the timber industry.

1. In March, 2002, the Forest Service and BLM entered into a settlement of an industry lawsuit in which it agreed to propose amending the NWFP to drop the Survey and Manage program. Pursuant to this settlement agreement, the Forest Service and BLM adopted an amendment that eliminated the program. In August 2005, a federal district court held that the environmental impact statement on the amendment failed to analyze the impacts to species exempted from protections and whether the old-growth reserves would sufficiently protect those species (Northwest Ecosystem Alliance v. Rey, 380 F. Supp.2d 1175 [W.D. Wash. 2005]). The agencies are completing a new EIS on the amendment to eliminate the program.

2. In February 2003, Mark Rutzick, the lead attorney for the timber industry in the litigation and settlement negotiations, became senior adviser to the general counsel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where he played a major role in implementing the deal to weaken the ACS. In March 2004, the Forest Service and BLM amended the NWFP to weaken the ACS and the Services issued biological opinions that eliminated the requirement that each timber sale must promote attainment of the ACS objectives. In March 2006, the magistrate judge ruled that the amendment violated the ESA. The matter is awaiting a decision by the district court judge.

3. In January 2003, the timber industry reached a settlement (approved by the district court in April 2003) in which the FWS agreed to complete a Northern Spotted Owl status review and to revise the critical habitat designation. FWS agreed to the critical habitat deal even though it recognized that the lawsuit could not be heard because the 6-year statute of limitations had already run. While some in FWS argued against revising critical habitat to appease the industry, one dismayed individual noted "as Bob Dylan said, "you don't have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing." Conservation groups had intervened in the industry lawsuit, which led FWS to refuse to eliminate existing critical habitat protections during the revision process. In 2005, FWS completed the status review, and the agency is developing a critical habitat proposal in conjunction with its owl recovery plan scheduled for June 2007.

4. In January 2003, the timber industry entered into a settlement (approved by the court in September 2003), in which FWS agreed to conduct a Marbled Murrelet status review and to finalize new critical habitat by August 30, 2007. Conservation groups had intervened in the industry lawsuit, which resulted in FWS refusing to vacate critical habitat during the revision process. In 2004, the scientific team completed the status review and concluded that the Washington, Oregon, and California murrelets still need ESA protection, and the regional FWS office concurred. Subsequently, the FWS office in D.C. announced that it believed the tri-state murrelet population should be de-listed. In September 2006, the agency proposed to shrink murrelet habitat by 94%, excluding the NWFP area among others that are necessary for murrelet survival and recovery.

5. In August 2003, the timber industry entered into a settlement in which BLM agreed to revise the resource management plans for western Oregon by December 31, 2008. BLM committed that: "At least one alternative to be considered in each proposed revision will be an alternative which will not create any reserves on O&C lands except as required to avoid jeopardy under the Endangered Species Act. All plan revisions shall be consistent with the O&C Act as interpreted by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals." BLM has begun the process of revising the resource management plans in accordance with the settlement. In developing possible alternatives, it is taking the view that timber is the dominant purpose for the O&C lands and that reserves must be accordingly limited.

Documents
"Administrative Tools to Fix the Northwest Forest Plan," Dec. 2001.

"A Global Framework for Settlement of Litigation Challenging Federal Agency Actions Relating to the Northwest Forest Plan," April 2002.

Letter Acceding to Two Industry Demands from Department of Justice Attorney Wells Burgess to Timber industry Lobbyist Mark Rutzick, Aug. 1, 2002.

Timber industry August 14, 2002, response to the federal settlement offer entitled: "The proposals to eliminate the survey and manage program and fix the "Rothstein" problem are not sufficient to produce 1.1 Billion Board Feet Per Year of Timber Sales Under the Northwest Forest Plan."