In a decision with separate opinions written by all three members of an appellate panel, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a preliminary injunction to block logging on burnt national forest land. The panel ruled 2-1 that opponents of the logging had crossed the threshold necessary to win a preliminary injunction while the litigation proceeds. Environmentalists contended that the U.S. Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Forest Management Act.

In a 2-1 decision with a vigorous dissent, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the State of Oregon's law regulating billboards. The law prohibits new billboards except for "on-premises signs." An Oregon resident said the law violated his First Amendment rights by favoring businesses. But the court concluded the law passed the content-neutrality standard.

Now that the smoke has cleared from last fall's Southern California firestorms, one might assume that fire protection experts and elected leaders are busy working on methods to ensure that developments in fire hazard areas are better protected. That assumption, however, is only partly true.