A federal judge approved a preliminary injunction on Nov. 5 filed by multiple wildlife organizations and nonprofits halting a post-fire roadside logging project by the United States Forest Service in the Willamette National Forest.

Related: “They didn’t do their homework’: lawsuits challenge Willamette National Forest logging”

Nonprofits Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild and Willamette Riverkeeper, as well as Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, an organization of former and current Forest Service employees, filed lawsuits against the USFS on Aug. 18.

The lawsuits allege the USFS should have prepared an environmental impact statement or an environmental assessment, as required under the National Environmental Policy Act. Instead, the USFS said the project fell under a categorical exclusion as road repair and maintenance, according to court documents.

In his order, Federal District Judge Michael McShane said, “Given the immense scale of this project, which allows the felling of trees along 404 miles of forest roads, plaintiffs have demonstrated a likelihood of success on the claim that the Forest Service may not use the road repair and maintenance CE [categorical exclusion] to avoid any NEPA review of the project.”

Categorical exclusions are actions the Department of Energy “has determined, by regulation, normally do not have a significant effect on the human environment,” requiring “neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact statement,” according to the DOE website.

The order stated managing threats, such as risks of future fires and blocked roads to first responders, are “without question a legitimate agency interest.” However, the order also stated the public’s interest in ensuring the USFS follows the law and complies with NEPA is a competing interest.

McShane said the USFS cannot fell any tree with a low likelihood of failure within five years because activities in response to no imminent danger from failing trees does not fall under a categorical exclusion. Tree failure refers to tree breakage or tree parts. However, the USFS can fell any trees that are at risk of imminent failure within striking distance of a road.

“Dead trees are not dangerous, except to the sawyers cutting them down,” FSEEE Executive Director Andy Stahl said. “It’s time the Forest Service reopens our national forests for all to enjoy.”

The order said the USFS must prepare an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement for the project.

A date has not been set for a full hearing by the court.