Oregonian: When is a green tree dead? That’s essentially the question a federal appeals court is deciding in a lawsuit pitting conservationists against the U.S. Forest Service. A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel heard arguments Tuesday in Portland in a case that could decide how the government is allowed to log old-growth conifers burned by fire on the eastern slopes of the Cascades. The three-judge panel took the case under advisement after a brief hearing. The …