Big Win For Big Trees!

Some of California's largest "residents" got a special break last week.

Big trees in California's Giant Sequioa National Monument won't be logged, following timber companies' eleventh-hour withdrawal of their lawsuit -- just hours before Sierra Club's team would have clashed with them before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sierra Club activists, including California's own Sequoia Task Force, challenged the Bush Administration's plans allowing logging within the monument. Sierra Club triumphed in federal court, successfully arguing that Bush's "Management Plan" for the monument really added up to for-profit logging. Following that victory, the Forest Service has begun crafting a new, hopefully better, plan for protecting the monument.

Logging companies appealed the case, but dropped their appeal just before the June 10 hearing. Their decision to back away from efforts to plunder California's wilderness sends a profound signal to those who would cloak outright giveaways of our national treasures in the costume of "management practices."

Sierra Club's National Director, Carl Pope, just sent a note congratulating California activists for their June 10 victory:

"After years of fighting to keep our towering sequoia trees safe from the timber industry's saws, we have finally won. Thanks to this hard-earned victory, our children and grandchildren will be able to stand in awe of these noble giants for generations to come."

Learn more about Sierra Club's historic victory here.

Your donation helps us triumph in court and in the California Legislature.