Northwest Forest Resource Council v. Pilchuck Audubon Society

This is a consolidated appeal of two separate injunctions releasing government timber for sale pursuant to § 2001(k)(l) and (2) of the 1995 Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Assistance and Rescissions Act. Pub.L. No. 104-19, § 2001 (k), 109 Stat. 194 , 240-47. The first order, dated January 10, 1996, rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of the statute and found that certain timber sales were covered by § 2001(k)(l) and ordered their immediate release.

The second order, issued January 19,1996, was stayed by this court pending appeal. That order rejected the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management’s implementation of § 2001(k)(2), using a scientific protocol, as not in compliance with the statute’s language which exempts certain timber sales where endangered and threatened birds are “known to be nesting.”

We affirm the district court’s determination that the statute is constitutional, and the determination that the statute applies to timber sales previously enjoined or cancelled before the passage of § 2001(k)(l).

We reverse the district court’s order holding that timber sales offered in violation of § 318 fall within the scope of § 2001(k)(l). We reverse the…