Environmental Groups Sue to Halt Logging in Washington Old-Growth Forests

Environmental groups sued the U.S. Forest Service to stop logging in Washington old-growth forests.

A coalition of environmental groups including the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center and WildEarth Guardians filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service on August 31, 2026. The suit was brought in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington to halt the Evans Creek logging project in Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

The plaintiffs argue that the proposed logging operations, which would impact over 1,000 acres of old-growth and mature forests, threaten imperiled species such as the bull trout and northern spotted owl. Both species are protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Noah Greenwald, Endangered Species Director at the Center for Biological Diversity, stated, "This project threatens species struggling to survive in one of their last strongholds." Plaintiff attorney Susan Jane Brown of the Western Environmental Law Center added, "We are simply asking the government to comply with bedrock environmental laws designed to protect old-growth forests and the wildlife that depend on them."

Conversely, the U.S. Forest Service defends the Evans Creek project as a necessary effort to reduce wildfire risk and improve overall forest health. The agency has positioned the logging as part of ongoing forest management to mitigate catastrophic fires in the Pacific Northwest.

This legal challenge underscores the persistent conflict between preserving critical habitats and implementing federal forest management strategies. It also highlights complexities faced by legal counsel navigating regulatory compliance where environmental conservation and wildfire mitigation goals intersect.