ELR Citation: ELR 20661
No(s). CIV S-88-1322 LKK (E.D. Cal. Dec 22, 1989)

The court permanently enjoins a national forest timber sale because it violates the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (WSRA). The WSRA requires defendant to prepare a presale management plan. Previously the court held that the WSRA's protection of rivers is not limited to a one-quarter-mile corridor. The environmental impact statement's (EIS') discussion of the environmental consequences of the sale on WSRA values does not satisfy the WSRA's management plan requirement, because the EIS failed to consider the WSRA values outside the one-quarter-mile corridor. Defendant also failed to cooperate with the Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies as required by the WSRA. The court holds that the balance of equities favors an injunction. Plaintiff met the burden of showing the likelihood of irreparable injury and inadequacy of legal remedies.

A previous decision in this litigation is published at 19 ELR 20557.

Counsel for Plaintiff
Stephan C. Volker
Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Inc.
2044 Fillmore St., San Francisco CA 94115
(415) 567-6100

Counsel for Defendants
Karen Patterson, Mary Grad, Ass't U.S. Attorneys
U.S. Department of Justice
3305 Federal Bldg., 650 Capitol Mall, Sacramento CA 95814
(916) 551-2700