We are going full speed on discovery right now, including deposing some of CDFs top policy- makers. The trial is scheduled for February 20, 2001.
This lawsuit is perhaps EPICs highest profile and most politically significant case because it seeks to invalidate the State of Californias entire regulatory structure for logging operations on private land within the range of the Coho salmon. The basic premise of the case is that virtually everyone, including the state, acknowledges that Californias Forest Practice Rules are inadequate to protect the Coho as required by the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Yet the State has refused to enact meaningful reform measures to correct these violations. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the federal agency responsible for protecting endangered salmon, agrees with our claims, and submitted a declaration on our behalf in the case.
With the support of NMFS and also from Santa Cruz County, EPIC filed a motion for a "preliminary injunction" in May 2000 and asked the court to enjoin logging operations that "take" or kill Coho salmon. Although our motion was also supported by testimony from leading fisheries and geological experts, the judge denied our motion, but set an expedited schedule for getting the case to a full trial.
We are currently amassing evidence that will prove to the court that logging operations approved by CDF are illegal, and that the Coho salmon's survival relies on justice being served with a permanent injunction against such logging. EPIC is working together with renowned scientists and a top-notch legal team in the case, and we are determined to seek justice for the Coho at the full trial beginning February 20, 2001.
