Judge blocks wildfire mitigation measures to protect spotted owls near Mount Shasta

A federal judge in California blocked a plan to log parts of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, ruling the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2023 finding that the project posed “no jeopardy” to northern spotted owls was arbitrary and capricious. The South Fork Sacramento project aimed to thin forest and reduce wildfire risk while removing about 12 owls from designated recovery areas.

Judge Dena Coggins found the agency's analysis failed to examine alternative source populations of owls, whose numbers she noted are already in what scientists call an “extinction vortex” from climate change, competition with barred owls, and logging. The government argued vacating the opinion would delay wildfire-risk reduction, but Coggins was unmoved, noting the agency has over a year to redo the analysis.

The ruling sends the project back to square one, requiring a fresh environmental review before any logging can proceed.

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