Group files lawsuit against Forest Service to protect Spalding’s catchfly

The Greater Hells Canyon Council, based in La Grande, Ore., is suing the Forest Service seeking to protect Spalding's catchfly in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.

Conservationists in northeast Oregon are suing the U.S. Forest Service for reauthorizing livestock grazing on 44,000 acres of grasslands within the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.

The lawsuit, filed Jan. 10 by the Greater Hells Canyon Council in La Grande, Ore., seeks to protect a rare and endemic species of plant known as Spalding’s catchfly — a summer-blooming member of the carnation family.

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