Cascade-Siskiyou Monument litigation could resume

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – The Trump administration has agreed to resume litigation over the expansion of Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument on Jan. 15 unless it resolves the dispute first.

The Capital Press reported Tuesday that two groups sued when then-President Barack Obama nearly doubled the monument’s size earlier this year.

But those groups agreed to freeze their litigation while incoming President Donald Trump decided whether to roll back the Obama expansion.

The Association of O&C Counties and the American Forest Resource Council want Trump to scale back the monument so it doesn’t include so-called “O&C lands.”

Eighteen Oregon counties receive logging receipts from those lands under statute.

The groups say expanding the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument to include those lands was illegal.

The Trump administration recommends modifying the monument’s boundaries, but details aren’t clear.

___

Information from: Capital Press, http://www.capitalpress.com/washington