California IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Atty. Gen. Upheld in Logging Case

The California attorney general’s duty to protect the public interest in the environment does not prevent him from defending a state agency that promotes logging redwoods, a state Court of Appeal ruled in San Francisco. The 1st District Court of Appeal, however, faulted Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp for taking a one-sided posture in defense of the Humboldt County logging case. Environmentalists--opposed to a Pacific Lumber Co. plan to cut 700 acres, including 54 acres of centuries-old trees--challenged the state Forestry Department’s routine approval of the plan. A Humboldt County Superior Court ordered Van de Kamp’s office off the case, ruling that a conflict existed with the attorney general’s duty to protect the public interest. But in a 3-0 ruling reversing that decision, the appeals court added that Van de Kamp’s office could be disqualified from the case if future evidence shows a conflict of interest.