Oregon conservation group sues over timber plan, testing Congress' new use of the CRA

Cascadia Wildlands, an Oregon-based conservation nonprofit, sued the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of the Interior, asserting that the Aloha Trout Forest Management Project’s timber-sale authorization fails to meet the standards of the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The lawsuit follows Congress’s unprecedented use of the CRA last year to overturn three BLM land-use plans in Alaska, Montana and North Dakota, a step critics described as "nuclear" and likely to sow confusion across the nation’s public-land regime.

Plaintiffs, represented by Silvix Resources’ Susan Jane Brown, contend that because the agency never submitted the resource-management plan to Congress, it is invalid. Law scholars such as John Ruple and Chris Winter warn the precedent could destabilize decades of local planning and give Congress unchecked power over land-use decisions. Supporters of the CRA, including Rep. Julie Fedorchak and Sen. Mike Lee, maintain the tool is intended to curb agency overreach. The court must decide by late August, and the outcome could affect hundreds of existing grazing, lease and recreation plans nationwide.