CA Supreme Court upholds county logging rules

by Genevieve Bookwalter, Santa Cruz Sentinel staff writer, June 30, 2006

[excerpt:] … The 4-3 decision in favor of Santa Cruz County over Davenport-based Big Creek Lumber grants a local government the power to restrict timber operations to certain areas. Historically, logging was under the purview of the state; the court’s ruling validates Santa Cruz County’s 7-year-old law regulating where trees can and can’t be logged.

“They absolutely vindicated what I think the county believes to be true, which is local land-use authority is the jurisdiction of the local government,” said county Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt, whose district includes the timber stands of north Santa Cruz County…

How logging is done falls under state law, according to the state Supreme Court ruling; where it’s done is up to the locals… [emphasis added]

The full article is available on the Santa Cruz Sentinel website.

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