Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center v. United States Forest Service

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

This matter is before the court on cross motions for summary judgment filed by plaintiffs, Klamath-Siskiyou Wild-lands Center, Environmental Protection and Information Center, and Klamath Forest Alliance (collectively “plaintiffs”) and defendant, United States Forest Service, (“Forest Service”). The court heard oral argument from parties’ counsel on July 16, 2004.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. The Beaver Creek Project

The present controversy surrounds the Beaver Creek Project (“the Project”), a timber harvest/watershed improvement project located in the Beaver Creek Watershed, which lies within the Scotts River Ranger District of the Klamath National Forest, approximately fifteen miles northwest of Yreka, California.

The Klamath National Forest encompasses approximately 1,700,000 acres of federal lands in Northern California and Southern Oregon. Within the Klamath National Forest, the 69,600-acre Beaver Creek Watershed drains, through Beaver Creek and a number of other tributaries, into the nearby Klamath River. The Beaver Creek Watershed is a checkerboard of public (approximately 64%) and private land, much of which has been heavily impacted by…