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Timber industry sues to lift shutdown logging ban

GRANTS PASS — Western timber companies have gone to court to lift the logging ban on national forests because of the government shutdown, arguing the government has no authority under timber sale contracts to force loggers to stop working.


The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order lifting the logging shutdown, arguing direction from the Office of Management and Budget does not require suspension of operations on a federal contract so long as direct supervision is inessential to the contractor's work. It adds that some of the contracts involve work that is improving public safety by reducing wildfire danger and removing dead trees in danger of falling in campgrounds.


"It makes zero sense for the cash-strapped government to shut down operations that pay millions into the United States Treasury," said Tom Partin, president of the American Forest Resources Council, the timber industry group that filed the lawsuit. "A timber operation isn't something you can turn on and off like a light switch. Once equipment has to be moved out, it can be months before it can be moved back in.

"What is happening to our members is particularly frustrating when other businesses with contracts to operate on federal land, such as ski areas, are being allowed to continue working," Partin added in a statement

The Forest Service and BLM had no comment on the lawsuit.


Though some companies depend heavily on federal timber sales for their logs, national forests produce only about 5 percent of the nation's lumber supply. Since logging was deeply cut back on national forests in the 1990s to protect fish, wildlife and clean water, markets have turned to other sources, such as Canada and private lands.



This September 2006 photo shows a helicopter ferrying logs to a landing site on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. - AP