Court upholds Sisters forest project

A U.S. District Court judge has cleared the way for launching the McCache Vegetation Management Project on the Sisters Ranger District.

The McCache Project includes about 4,500 acres of treatments designed to reduce the risk of large-scale losses due to insect, disease and wildland fire events, according to the Forest Service.

District Court Judge Owen Panner ruled May 12 the project did not violate federal environmental laws, as a Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project lawsuit contends.

"We're obviously pleased with the ruling," said Sisters District Ranger Bill Anthony. "The project was delayed many times by appeals, wildfires and two lawsuits, and we're anxious to implement it."

Anthony said work has begun with efforts to restore aspen groves on approximately 186 acres where fir and pine trees have encroached.

The court decision also paves the way for implementation of forest thinning and brush mowing.

"This project will not only benefit the forest but will help reduce some of the wildfire threats to Black Butte Ranch, the Tollgate and Crossroads subdivisions, and the Sisters community," Anthony said.

District managers began planning the project in January 1999 when they identified a 15,000-acre area five miles west of Sisters where thinning and prescribed burning projects would help reduce landscape risk, as well as protect and foster development of mature forest habitat for wildlife species.

The Forest Service was required to review the project in the wake of the B&B Complex Fire to determine if the fire had changed the situation on the ground.

Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project appealed the decision several times and each appeal was denied.

The environmental group filed the lawsuit in October of 2003, contending the project failed to protect aquatic habitats, neglected endangered species, ignored cumulative effects and lacked documentation on the effects of the intervening B&B Complex Fire.

The court ruled in favor of the Forest Service on all issues.