Oregon timber plans in doubt after appeals court says logging road runoff is pollution

[depakid]

Ruling on a case involving the Tillamook State Forest, a federal appeals court said Tuesday that dirt, rock and sand washing off of logging roads is a form of pollution that requires a permit under the Clean Water Act.

The ruling could complicate life for timber companies, which might find themselves under greater regulatory scrutiny. It also comes as the Oregon Department of Forestry is moving to increase logging in the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests. In June 2009, the state board of forestry approved a management plan for the two forests that would increase logging by an estimated 20 percent. Environmentalists say the amended plan would result in clearcutting of an additional 100,000 acres.

t was unclear Tuesday how the ruling will affect the department's timber harvest plans. Department spokesman Dan Postrel said the ruling could have a wide-ranging effect if it stands, and a review of the court's decision is under way. The state manages 848,000 acres of timberland. Under state law, most of the timber sale revenue goes to county governments and local school districts. Timber sale money also goes to the Common School Fund, for distribution to districts throughout the state.

Logging roads are a common target of conservationists because they allow access into otherwise roadless areas. Logging companies typically install ditches and culverts alongside and under gravel logging roads to catch rain or snow runoff. The stormwater systems, intended to prevent the rough roads from washing out during storms, redirect stormwater to rivers.

Environmentalists maintain that the systems send large amounts of dirt, rock and sand into creeks and rivers, smothering salmon and trout eggs, reducing oxygen levels and burying insects that fish feed on. In a 2006 lawsuit against the Oregon state forester, forestry board and timber companies, the Northwest Environmental Defense Center said the discharge is "point source" pollution as defined by the Clean Water Act. As such, it requires a permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.

The lawsuit involved two roads in the Tillamook State Forest: the Trask River Road, which runs parallel to the river of the same name, and the Sam Downs Road, which runs along the Little South Fork of the Kilchis River. The roads are owned by the forestry department and are used by timber companies to reach logging sites.

A lower federal court judge concluded the stormwater runoff from the roads was exempt from the pollution permit process and dismissed the lawsuit. In Tuesday's ruling, a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision and said a permit is required. The appeals court remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings.

More: http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/08/oregon_timber_plans_in_doubt_a.html