Court Rules for Coho Salmon and Questions In-Stream Gravel Mining Permit

Earthrise’s client, the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, issued a press release regarding yesterday’s important court decision on in-stream gravel mining. In the decision, US Magistrate Judge John Acosta ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unlawfully shut the public out of the permitting process and failed to justify the use a controversial commercial gravel mining permit to allow gravel mining on the Chetco River, near Brookings, Oregon. In addition, the court found that the National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency charged with the protection of the critically imperiled southern Oregon/northern California coastal coho salmon, failed to correctly evaluate the risks to the coho associated with the proposed mining.

For further information, see the links below for the full press release from NEDC, the 50-page opinion, and continuing updates at NEDC’s website.