BLM timber sales delayed due to pending litigation

WILLIAMS, Ore.– The Bureau of Land Management is delaying two timber sales because of pending litigation.

Back in February, we told you how a number of locals protested the BLM’s Late Mungers project near Williams.

They claim the project wasn’t following environmental regulations.

Now, a lawsuit has been filed challenging the project.

The BLM said they have paused all work on the Penn Butte and Late Mungers projects.

It has delayed the timber sales until September.

BLM’s Kyle Sullivan said, “we wouldn’t be effective if we took out one of the tools from our toolboxes. The protesters are saying ‘don’t do commercial timber.’ we really need our whole entire toolbox to address the crises that our forests are facing.”

Sullivan said the BLM isn’t able to do prescribed burns or thin forests while the lawsuit is still pending.

He said it’s important for the agency to be able to do that work, especially with fire season beginning.