An injunction to halt a timber sale was filed last week in the Superior Court of the State of Washington on July 14.
Earth Law Research, Center for Whale Research and Keystone Species Alliance are the plaintiffs suing the Washington Department of Natural Resources D (DNR) et. al. for a planned timber sale because the logging site is within the recovering Elwha River Watershed, court documents state.
The timber sale, known as “Power Plant” had been approved and is scheduled for July 26 but Earth Law Center filed this appeal.
The plaintiffs allege that the approved plan “contains incomplete and contradictory information regarding the scope of the harvest.” And that contrary to the original plan, the final auction packet describes, “a virtual clear cut of all trees …”
The plaintiffs also allege the presence of a protected species, “the Marbled Murrelet, in the vicinity of the proposed sale.”
The Audubon Society states that the bird is a type of Puffin which has endured “serious population declines in recent years. Continues to lose nesting habitat with cutting of old-growth forest in northwest. Because of feeding near shore, especially vulnerable to coastal oil spills.”
The preliminary injunction states that the Elwha River became famous for the largest dam removal in U.S. history with the federal government spending $327 million on restoration efforts.
The Power Plant sale consists of approximately 126 acres of forest all in proximity to the river.