Mercury News: A judge ruled Monday that a fire-control plan for Giant Sequoia National Monument violated federal law because the blueprint, which includes logging the preserve that is home to two-thirds of the world’s largest trees, did not undergo an environmental review.
U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer ruled that the U.S. Forest Service failed to comply with the National Environmental Protection Act and that its plans to manage the 327,769-acre central California preserve could have significant environmental consequences.
Attorney General Bill Lockyer sued in March to halt the plan that would have allowed commercial logging in the monument designed to preserve the ancient monster conifers.
“In a whole series of forest management cases, the Bush Administration has ignored federal law while showing great deference to the timber industry’s interests,” Lockyer’s office said in a statement.
Tags: California, environment, wilderness