Click any
thumbnail
to view

The Pacific Northwest's verdant forests, fish-dense streams, and abundant wildlife have long been recognized as amongst our country's most precious resources. And for centuries, the natural resources of the Northwest seemed endless, supporting local economies and native communities. More than 15 million acres of ancient Douglas fir, hemlock, and cedar once blanketed the region. Now, the national forests -- and the people, plants, and animals who rely on them for recreation, livelihood, and habitat -- are increasingly threatened by logging and related activities.

Earthjustice's Seattle office was founded in 1987 to protect the precious ecosystems of the Northwest. In one of the office's first campaigns, attorneys helped preserve the ancient forest habitat of the northern spotted owl. But forests across the US are again under attack. Cloaked in a mantle of "wildfire prevention," legislation proposed by the White House on September 5, 2002, attempts to eviscerate key environmental and public participation laws that apply to the management of federal public lands. The Bush Administration's "Healthy Forests" proposals constitute a radical revision of public lands law as it presently exists and provide an unprecedented opportunity for timber companies to gain access to federal timber, free of public scrutiny and legal restraints.