California Department of Forestry approval of a plan to log north coast redwood and Douglas fir on 615 acres in Mendocino County does not violate state environmental law, a state court of appeal has ruled.
Environmentalists challenged the approval of a timber management plan to log on the privately owned land on California’s north coast claiming it would destoy habitat for the endangered marbled murrelet, a seabird that nests in old-growth forests between Santa Cruz and Alaska.
The First District Court of Appeal initially ordered a stay to halt the logging while it considered the appeal. On Dec. 30 the court issued its decision upholding the logging plan, rejecting the environmentalists claim that the state failed to consider the cumulative impact of the project.
A Mendocino County judge had denied to environmental claims in 2013.
The lawsuit was brought by the Center for Biological Diversity and local groups, including the Friends of the Gualala River and the Coast Action Network.
The logging plan was submitted by John and Margaret Bower and the North Gualala Water Company to harvest timber on615 acres located adjacent to the town of Gualala on the northeast side. It would be divided into 10 units in the watersheds of Roseman Creek, Big Pepperwood Creek, Doty Creek and Robinson Creek.
Case: Center for Biological Diversity v. Calif Dept of Forestry, No. A138914
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