A Eugene-based environmental group is suing the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, alleging that it violated the Congressional Review Act when making a timber sale about 15 miles southwest of Corvallis near the community of Alsea.
In a federal lawsuit filed on Wednesday, Cascadia Wildlands alleges that the Aloha Trout Timber Sale was done illegally because BLM did not submit its 2016 resource management plan for the area for Congressional review.
Cascadia’s legal director, Nick Cady, said the lawsuit uses a tactic that the Trump administration used to undo mining protections put in place by the Biden administration.
"They expanded the definitions under [The Congressional Review Act] to include resource management plans by the BLM,” said Cady. “They were warned by people on both sides of the aisle that this is too expansive of a definition, and it’s going to have ripple effects. These are those ripple effects."
Cady said this case could have wider implications for the area.
“I know we named a specific timber sale, but the direct implication of this lawsuit is that every sale in western Oregon issued since 2016 is without force and effect,” he said.
Such a ruling may mean that the contracts that put the timber sales into place may be void.
BLM did not immediately return a request for comment from KLCC.
