The California Supreme Court reversed a court of appeal judgment. The court held a timber harvesting plan was not adequate for failing to specifically designate separate and individually tailored biological assessment areas for each species of wildlife that would be impacted by the project. The court also held that the timber company’s, and the state’s, analysis of future herbicide use was not legally inadequate.
Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) filed three timber harvesting plans (THPs) for the harvesting of timber from land that it owned in Tuolumne County. Each of the plans designated a single area for both watershed and biological assessment. Despite public objections to the plans, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) approved the plans.
