PORTLAND — Conservation groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge has increased logging, hay mowing and cattle grazing without consulting the public or showing how the activities benefit wildlife.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court here, asks a judge to halt most logging, hay mowing and cattle grazing on the refuge until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers the impacts on the environment, in a process open to the public.

"We're not saying they can't have logging," said Wendell Wood of the Oregon Natural Resources Council, one of the plaintiffs.

"We're saying they need a plan before starting logging. We're not saying they can't hay or graze cows. We are objecting to them cutting far more hay, and grazing far more cows than their plan allows them to," he said.

The lawsuit alleges that managers of the refuge near the California border violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to do environmental impact statements on groundbreaking activities on federal lands. It also says they violated the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act by failing to determine the projects were compatible with wildlife.

The lawsuit also challenges decisions by the refuge to open a road that had been closed to protect sandal crane nesting sites, spraying to kill native grasshoppers, and excavations on two ditches running through the refuge.

The lawsuit alleged that the refuge logged in stands of ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine in 2001 and 2002 before performing an environmental analysis, and removed trees greater than 14 inches, a limit set in a subsequent environmental analysis to protect nesting trees for bald eagles.

While increasing hay cutting by six fold, the refuge allowed willows planted by volunteers as habitat improvements to be cut down two years running, Wood said.

"When you really get down to it, they are concerned about what some rancher wants them to do," said Wood. "The refuge needs to do what's best for wildlife."

Ron Cole, project leader of the Klamath National Wildlife Refuge Complex, did not return a telephone call for comment. Regional Fish and Wildlife spokesman Jim Nicholas said he could not comment on a lawsuit the agency has not seen.