On October 14, a federal court issued a momentous decision in a lawsuit that EPIC filed against Maxxam/Pacific Lumber in 2001, ruling that pollution from logging is not exempt from the Clean Water Act. The opinion by Judge Marilyn Hall Patel finds that logging companies are required to obtain permits for pollution emitted from "ditches, culverts, channels, and gullies." This is the first court ruling in the nation to apply the Clean Water Act (CWA) to this type of logging pollution and gives the go-ahead for EPIC to proceed with this important case. (read more)

Coho Salmon Photo: Thomas B. Dunklin Photograph

On August 2, a California Superior Court threw out a set of 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." Judge Quidachay issued the strongly written decision in a case that EPIC filed in 2002, blocking the logging industry's third attempt to get these controversial rules on the books. (read more)