from Grist:
A federal judge put the smackdown yesterday on a U.S. Forest Service
plan to allow increased logging in California's Giant Sequoia National
Monument, home to about two-thirds of the world's largest trees. U.S.
District Judge Charles Breyer said the USFS forest management plan
lacked "coherent or clear guidance" and "trampled the applicable
environmental laws"; he called for the USFS to write a new plan and
conduct further environmental review. California Attorney General Bill
Lockyer, who brought the suit, called Breyer's ruling "a resounding
victory for the giant sequoias" and "a resounding defeat for the Bush
administration, which aggressively sought to unravel the protections."
In a separate ruling, Breyer halted further logging in four areas in
and around the monument, pending further study of the effects on the
rare Pacific fisher, a member of the weasel family. A USFS spokesflack
said the agency was "very disappointed" with the rulings and may
appeal.
sources:
San Francisco Chronicle
The Mercury News
The New York Times