The Clinton administration has suffered yet another setback in its crusade to protect the forests in the US northwest from marauding timber merchants. On September 14, district court judge Michael Hogan came up with a ruling that timber sales must proceed on thousands of acres of forests previously set aside to protect the environment. If upheld, the ruling would allow the harvest of at least 170 million board feet of timber.

At issue in the suit was how to interpret the language of the salvage logging law, which allows the commercial exploitation of forests. The Clinton administration's efforts to withdraw the law for protecting wildlife and water quality had been met with legal intervention bytimber barons. The ruling is being viewed as a major victory for the timber companies and their Republican allies in the Congress. "Today's ruling puts people and jobs first," gloats Republican senator Slade Gorton who has been rooting for the release of the lands.

But there is gloom in other quarters. Louis Schiffer, US assistant attorney general for environ- mental issues, said the decision "could jeorpardise the careful balance the President has struck between moving timber, improving commerce and protecting the environment". Environmental groups like the Washington-based Sierra Club are more vociferous in their criticism. They are, in fact, predicting doom. "We will, in all likelihood, see the extirpation of some salmon and steelhead runs, the destruction of numerous healthy stands of old-growth and mature forests and the degradation of municipal water," moans Adam Berger of the Sierra Club.

Meanwhile, this persistent environment-bashing has created panic in the headquarters of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA). The recent Senate decision of introducing EPA budget cuts has worsened the situation.