Four conservation groups have filed a lawsuit against the Oregon Board of Forestry. They say the agency isn’t doing enough to protect a threatened seabird.

In June, conservation groups petitioned the Board calling for it to take inventory of sites where Marbled Murrelet are found statewide. But the Board refused. The seabird has been state-listed as threatened since the 1980s. Nick Cady, Legal Director of Cascadia Wildlands in Eugene, says the bird’s habitat is in coastal rainforests.

Cady: “So the Elliott State Forest provides the biggest and most important chunk of that species’ habitat and the state, instead of making moves to recover species that are listed is trying to auction off and sell the largest and best habitat for this imperiled species.”’

Cady says the Elliott, near Reedsport, is one of the few large swathes of coastal rainforest left in the northwest. He’d like it protected and open for public enjoyment. A spokesman for the Oregon Board of Forestry says they cannot comment on pending litigation.

