The Sierra Club case

Here is the latest recommendation and report from Magistrate Judge Sargent, in our timber-cutting case out of Wise County.

It begins dramatically:

"To a child of Appalachia, to see the mountains laid waste, whether by clear–cutting or strip mining, is to witness a dagger plunged into the very bosom from which you sprang and which has sustained you. Nonetheless, this court’s role in this case is not to pass judgment upon the policy decisions which allow such activities. Instead, its role is to decide the issue presented in this case – whether the court should issue a permanent injunction preventing continued logging activities on this property without a valid surface mining permit. For the reasons outlined below, I find that it should not, and I further recommend that the court vacate the preliminary injunction entered on August 4, 2008."