Loggers Win Court Victory as Judge Cuts Down Harvest Rules

In a victory for logging interests, a Superior Court judge threw out emergency administrative rules Wednesday that gave the Board of Forestry broad authority to restrict harvesting on the state’s 7.1 million acres of private timberlands.

Deciding a case brought by several lumber companies, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Joe S. Gray held the regulations to be invalid because the board had failed to prove the existence of an “emergency” in the forest.

“The facts . . . show that the ‘environmental crisis’ which spurred the board to action is based on speculation, concerns and suspicions, not evidence,” he wrote in a one-page opinion.

Forestry officials, who had hoped to use the rules as a legal tool to limit clear-cutting and restrict harvesting in ancient and old growth forests, said they will appeal the decision to a higher court.

In findings issued last fall, state regulators had contended that an “emergency” existed in the forests because decades of over-cutting had created a “timber gap” which meant that little high quality lumber would be available for future harvesting.

Calling the decision “welcome news,” Tom Herman, president of the California Licensed Foresters Assn., said the state board would now be required to regulate timber harvesting under less restrictive pre-existing rules. He said the old rules were considered among the “most stringent in the nation” but did not go as far as the emergency rules which “adversely affected . . . the ability of small timberland owners to continue operations.”

Sharon Duggan, an attorney for several North Coast environmental organizations, said, “This gives timber companies a new window of opportunity to submit harvest plans for thousands of acres. But these plans can still be denied if the board finds they don’t protect the environment.”

She said the opportunity may only last a few weeks, because the board is expected to decide next month on permanent rules that would reinstate the regulations.

Board of Forestry Chairwoman Terry Gorton disagreed, saying it is unclear whether there is enough support to pass permanent regulations.

She said board members had hoped in vain for some clear direction from the Legislature. Instead, the Legislature defeated a package of bills backed by Gov. Pete Wilson which would have written new timber protections into law.