Cascadia Wildlands v. Scott Timber Co.

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

CASCADIA WILDLANDS; No. 22-35764

CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL

DIVERSITY; AUDUBON SOCIETY D.C. No. OF PORTLAND, 6:16-cv-01710- AA Plaintiffs-Appellees, v.

OPINION

SCOTT TIMBER CO.; ROSEBURG

RESOURCES CO.; RLC

INDUSTRIES CO.,

Defendants-Appellants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon Ann L. Aiken, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted February 8, 2024 Portland, Oregon

Filed June 26, 2024

Before: M. Margaret McKeown, Jay S. Bybee, and Daniel A. Bress, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge McKeown SUMMARY*

Environmental Law

The panel affirmed the district court’s judgment after a bench trial and entry of a permanent injunction against private timber companies that sought to harvest timber from private property in Oregon in a citizen suit brought by several environmental organizations under the Endangered Species Act. The environmental organizations claimed that the logging project would cause a “take” of marbled murrelets by clearing acres of trees that these small seabirds used…