On August 2, a California Superior Court threw out a set of controversial logging rules that gutted salmon protection throughout the state, finding they would "provide less protection than what is currently established, and what is currently established does not provide sufficient protection."

EPIC filed the lawsuit to overturn the Board of Forestry's approval of a rule package that applies to salmon-bearing watersheds and allowed larger clearcuts and more logging in streamside areas with no public review or scientific input. Deceptively called "Interim Watershed Mitigation Addendum" rules, or IWMA, the court found they would "facilitate logging which lessens protections for watersheds with threatened or impaired values."

This was the third attempt by the industry to get these controversial rules on the books, and EPIC's third successful work to block them. We are hopeful that this court decision will send a clear message to the Board of Forestry that it must take actions to improve, not reverse, protection for California's disappearing salmon and steelhead.

EPIC was represented in this case by Sharon Duggan.