Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) - A federal judge has blocked a plan by the US government to allow commercial logging in California's Giant Sequoia National Monument, handing a victory to environmentalists who had sued to protect the ancient trees....(excerpt) California's Democratic attorney general, Bill Lockyer, who filed a lawsuit in 2005 aginst the Bush administration's plan, hailed the ruling as "a resounding victory for the Giant Sequoias, towering treasures that symbolize the magnificent beauty of California's Sierra Nevada range and inspire awe in all of us."

Why the West Is Burning A five-year drought has parched soils, lowered reservoirs and weakened forests. And if the past is any guide, the dry spell could go on for decades By J. MADELEINE NASH/SAGE Monday, Aug. 16, 2004 In California the wildfire season generally ramps up slowly, and the largest fires usually don't arrive until fall. But this year is different, says Riverside County fire captain Rick Vogt, surveying the aftermath of a blaze that swept through the rural community of Sage, 80 miles from San Diego, with unseasonal intensity late last month, blackening more than 3,500 acres. Fire...

Tuesday, July 23, 2002'Environmentalists' Endanger Sequoias You don't have to be a tree hugger to love California's magnificent sequoias. But thanks to environment-destroying "environmentalists," these towering symbols of the West could go up in smoke. A 38,000-acre fire roared through Giant Sequoia National Monument today and came within two miles of the Trail of 100 Giants. This majestic grove features some of God's greatest work, among the largest and most ancient living things on Earth, 1,500 years old. Nuisance lawsuits lodged by "environmentalists" have abetted the growth of the fire. "The courts have blocked the removal of much of...