State Supreme Court favors clearcuts in long-awaited decision

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Posted: Thursday, May 22, 2008 6:02 PM CDT

Environmental groups are reporting that after seven years of litigation, the California State Supreme Court Thursday released a decision “that directly affects clearcut logging plans by Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) in the Sierra Nevada region.”

The decision rejected claims by two Sierra Nevada conservation groups, Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch (EPFW) and Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center (CSERC), that the California Department of Forestry three timber harvest plans filed by SPI in 2001 were flawed. Those three plans targeted a total of more than 1,100 acres of clearcuts or similar logging treatments across a broad area of forest near Calaveras Big Trees State Park.

“The court’s decision favored the lumber company in its claim that it does not need to do a more thorough job of assessing the cumulative impacts of clearcuts on wildlife across its vast timberlands in the State. Rather than ruling on the merits of whether or not clearcuts were harmful to wildlife or whether herbicide spraying caused environmental damage, the Court narrowly focused on technical points concerning the adequacy of review,” the environmental groups said.

For the complete story, see Tuesday’s print edition of the Calaveras Enterprise.

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