The federal government must pay $1 million to lawyers
who fought to protect the northern spotted owl during a six-year
legal battle with the Bureau of Land Management. Federal District
Court Judge Helen J. Frye awarded $966,317 in attorney fees to the
Seattle-based Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, while the Western
Environmental Law Center of Eugene, Ore., was given $39,195,
reports The Oregonian. “The government here has no one to blame but
itself,” says Sierra Club attorney Todd True. “If they’d followed
the law in the 1980s and through the early “90s they wouldn’t owe
this money.” In a January 1994 ruling, Frye banned new logging on
BLM land and ruled that the agency violated federal environmental
laws by failing to protect the owl. Frye has since lifted the ban,
but the land remains unlogged as the BLM works out new plans to
protect wildlife. Although attorneys for the groups had requested
$430 per hour under a federal law that allows them to seek twice
their hourly rate of $215, Frye awarded them only $205 per hour.
True says the award won’t be used for bonuses since the attorneys
are salaried; the money will pay for future
work.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Owl defenders awarded $1 million.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
