Environmental groups are suing the Bureau of Land Management to block a 6,000-acre thinning project in a Southern Oregon forest. (Capital Press file photo)Environmental advocates claim the U.S. Bureau of Land Management unlawfully approved a Southern Oregon forest project that allows more than 6,000 acres of commercial thinning. The Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild and Umpqua Watersheds nonprofits have filed a federal complaint seeking an injunction against the BLM’s “42 Divide Project” in Douglas County. Commercial thinning is authorized for nearly 2,400 acres of spotted owl habitat, encompassing 24 sites occupied by the marbled murrelet, both of which are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act, according to the plaintiffs. The BLM declined to comment beyond referring to the agency’s approval documents for the project.