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March 9, 2010
ForestWatch is Recognized for
Top Environmental Achievement
for Second Year in a Row
Report Highlights Leading Efforts to
Protect the Environment
in Central and Southern California
A report released today
recognizes Los Padres ForestWatch and a coalition of
organizations for their two successful lawsuits challenging
inadequate environmental protections in new management plans for
the Los Padres National Forest and three other forests in
southern California. This marks the second year in a row that
ForestWatch has received the award.
The
Sixth Annual Top Achievements of the Environmental Community in
Southern California report highlights the six most
significant successes of conservation organizations in the
southern half of the state. Each year, the report -- published
by the nonprofit foundation Environment Now based in Los Angeles
-- highlights the region's top environmental achievements for
air quality, climate and energy, coastal protection, forest
protection, freshwater protection, and land use.
On June 8, 2009, U.S. District
Court Judge Marilyn Patel ruled in favor of five environmental
groups in their
lawsuit
challenging the adequacy of the “biological opinions” that
are supposed to assess the effects of new management plans on
endangered species living in the four national forests. Then, on
September 29, 2009, in response to
a
separate lawsuit filed by a larger coalition of
environmental groups, Judge Patel overturned significant parts
of these new management plans, highlighting that the plans
inadequately evaluate impacts of zoning many roadless areas in
the four forests for resource extraction and development. Both
rulings set the stage for improved environmental protection of
the Los Padres National Forest and other forests in the region.
The groups receiving this
year's award for forest protection are plaintiffs in one or both
lawsuits, and include the Center for Biological Diversity,
Earthjustice, Los Padres ForestWatch, Defenders of Wildlife,
Sierra Club, California Native Plant Society, California
Wilderness Coalition, and The Wilderness Society.
Last year, ForestWatch was
recognized in the same forest protection category for our
efforts to protect fragile burn areas in the Los Padres National
Forest from a commercial logging proposal. Click here to
read more about last year's
report. |
