Federal Judge Blocks Logging in Northern California Owl Recovery Zones

In a Wednesday ruling, U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins sided with environmental plaintiffs, granting summary judgment that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service failed to substantiate its assertion that the South Fork Sacramento Public Safety and Forest Restoration Project would not endanger the northern spotted owl. The project, proposed by the U.S. Forest Service, aims to reduce wildfire risk and improve recreation but includes logging within two designated recovery units—the California Cascades and California Klamath—home to fewer than 3,000 owls nationwide.

The agency’s 2023 biological opinion claimed only 12 owls would be affected, a figure the plaintiffs contested as unsupported under the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. Representatives from the Klamath Forest Alliance and the Crag Law Center highlighted the loss of critical breeding pairs and the broader ecological corridor. While the judge did not overturn the entire permit, she ordered the agencies and plaintiffs to convene by Sept. 1 to negotiate a remedy. The U.S. Forest Service and Fish & Wildlife Service declined to comment.