US Judge OKs Order Barring Logging
Near Headwaters Park
Dow Jones Newswires
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)--A judge on Monday barred the Pacific
Lumber Co. from using huge helicopters to pluck trees from private land
surrounded by the Headwaters Forest Reserve, the nation's newest
wilderness sanctuary.
The Sierra Club and another group sued to block the logging plan for "the
hole in the Headwaters," a 705-acre parcel that Pacific Lumber got last
year as part of the $480 million deal to create the new preserve.
Judge Quentin Kopp, who heard one day of arguments in Eureka earlier
this month, issued a temporary restraining order pending a full trial later this
summer. He said "irreparable injury will occur to the public interest" if the
area is logged without first exploring the environmentalists' complaints.
Kopp also ordered the Sierra Club and the Arcata-based Environmental
Protection Information Center to post a $250,000 bond against losses
Pacific Lumber says it will suffer if logging is delayed.
"It would appear that we have to pay it, but our lawyers are looking into
it," said EPIC Executive Director Paul Mason. "It's really shocking because
the rest of the ruling is very much in our favor."
"If the public had to post bond every time they wanted to stop someone
from logging or polluting, that would have a chilling effect on the public's
ability to enforce the law."
Pacific Lumber had asked for a bond of $1 million or more. The company
also argued that it would lose about $8 million and have to lay off workers
if it is not allowed to log the property.
Kopp acknowledged in his 19-page ruling that EPIC might not have the
resources to pay the bond, but said the Sierra Club, with its "vast financial
resources," certainly does. |
