FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ONDA files appeal on case challenging Lakeview BLM's Resource Management Plan

ONDA, along with partner groups Oregon Wild and Northwest Environmental Defense Center, filed an appeal today of Judge Hogan's June 28, 2007 opinion ruling in favor of BLM in our challenge of Lakeview BLM's Resource Management Plan and the Beaty Butte Allotment Management Plan.

The suit challenged several aspects of the RMP, including its refusal to consider the effects of the RMP on the wilderness resources on the Lakeview District, outside of existing Wilderness Study Areas. This included relying on outdated information on the wilderness resource, last collected in the 1970s and 1980s, and refusing to update its inventory during the planning process. ONDA's 2005 Lakeview BLM Wilderness Inventory found more than 1.7 million acres of wilderness-suitable public lands within the Lakeview District.

Judge Hogan gave BLM significant deference in his opinion, finding that certain claims against the RMP were not "ripe" for review, BLM adequately considered the wilderness issue, and the AMP challenge was time-barred under the statute of limitations.

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