EUGENE, Ore.— In response to a 2024 lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, a federal court ruled late Sunday that the U.S. Forest Service has failed to protect threatened coastal martens from off-road vehicle use in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, as required by federal law.
In a second ruling today, the U.S. District Court judge imposed a nightly riding curfew to reduce disturbance to the imperiled mammals and ordered the Forest Service to install signs and fencing to keep vehicles out of key marten habitats.
“I’m so relieved that Oregon’s martens will get a nighttime break from roaring vehicles tearing through their habitat. This will give them a little peace as they try to find food, find mates and raise their babies,” said Tala DiBenedetto, a carnivore conservation staff attorney at the Center. “With populations this fragile, every marten’s life counts. It’s frustrating that the Forest Service had to be sued to step up and finally help protect the future of coastal martens on these dunes.”
Off-road vehicles harm coastal martens through noise disturbance, habitat destruction and risk of vehicle strikes. Yet year after year, the Forest Service has allowed off-roading events to bring thousands of deafening, damaging vehicles into coastal marten critical habitat during sensitive periods for martens, when kits are still dependent on their mothers.
In its decision late Sunday, the court ruled that the agency failed to analyze and reduce risks to martens from the off-road vehicle activity that it authorizes, in violation of the Endangered Species Act and other federal laws. The court’s order bans the Forest Service from permitting for-profit, multi-day riding events — held each summer in Coos Bay and Winchester Bay — until the agency complies with federal law.
This summer’s Winchester Bay event is scheduled Aug. 11 to 16 and affects the Umpqua Dunes portion of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, which the Forest Service manages. Today’s court ruling prohibits off-highway vehicle use from 10:30 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. in that portion of the dunes. The Forest Service must also install and maintain signs and fencing to alert riders of the curfew and help them avoid key marten habitat.
Fewer than 400 coastal martens remain in highly isolated populations in Oregon and California. Approximately 71 of them are believed to live in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Scientists warn that the marten’s Oregon Dunes population could be eliminated if people kill just two or three of the imperiled animals in a single year.
“Commonsense limits on off-highway use in the Oregon Dunes benefits these rare martens, as well as all of us who love exploring this truly special place,” said DiBenedetto. “This win will protect marten mothers and their young to ensure a future where they can continue to hunt, climb, play and thrive in the beautiful shore-pine forests they’ve lived in for decades.”
Martens are small, stealthy carnivores in the weasel family with long, slender bodies, large triangular ears and bushy tails. They grow up to 2 feet long but weigh under 3 pounds and must eat one quarter of their body weight daily to support their high metabolism. Martens eat small mammals, birds, berries, reptiles and insects and are eaten in turn by larger mammals and raptors.
Coastal martens were thought to be extinct until they were rediscovered in the 1990s in northern California. After multiple lawsuits by the Center, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the martens as threatened in September 2020. In 2024 the agency designated approximately 1.2 million acres of critical habitat for the martens, including 28,843 acres in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, comprising nearly the entire Oregon Dunes.
In Sunday’s ruling, the court also ordered the parties to file additional briefs regarding protective measures pending the Forest Service’s compliance with federal law. Another court ruling is expected this fall. The interim measures imposed by today’s court order will remain in place until then.
