Judge: Obama illegally halted Bush logging plan

A federal judge ruled Thursday the Obama administration has to go through a public comment period before it can yank a controversial plan to double the amount of logging allowed on some federal forests in Western Oregon. The ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia stops Interior Secretary Ken Salazar from withdrawing the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Western Oregon Plan Revision. It remains unclear whether Salazar will let the plan stand or go through the public process to withdraw it. Interior spokesman Matt Lee-Ashley said the agency was reviewing the ruling. Salazar pulled the plan in 2009, saying it was illegal because the Bush administration, which put it into effect, had failed to have it reviewed for endangered species impacts. Judge John D. Bates wrote that Salazar did not have inherent authority to withdraw the decision without calling for public comment. Bob Ragon of Douglas Timber Operators, which filed the lawsuit, said the Obama administration should put the entire plan through that review step before making a decision. “The secretary withdrew it because he says it’s illegal,” Ragon said from Roseburg. “Let’s test it. Let’s see what the agencies have to say about it.”...more