Trucks, Old-Growth Redwoods and CEQA on a Collision Course

Russ Betts – Richardson Grove, California – GoGov.com

One of California’s most beautiful drives winds through the towering redwoods of Richardson Grove State Park along U.S. Highway 101. The massive trees rise so close to the pavement that they form a natural tunnel overhead, creating one of the state’s most unforgettable stretches of highway.

Those same towering trees also create a transportation problem. In places, they stand so close to the roadway that certain industry-standard freight trucks cannot safely travel through this section of U.S. Highway 101.

To solve that problem, Caltrans wants to widen the road along about a one-mile stretch of Highway 101.

At first glance, that may sound like it would require cutting down ancient redwood trees. It doesn’t. Caltrans says the project would not remove any old-growth redwoods.

It would, however, remove several younger trees measuring three to four feet in diameter, along with smaller saplings growing near the road’s edge.

Environmental organizations weren’t happy with that plan, and they’ve been in court trying to stop it for more than 15 years.

In 2014, they won the first round. The court ruled Caltrans had not adequately analyzed the project’s potential impact on the redwood trees.

After Caltrans revised its environmental review, the opponents sued again. They prevailed a second time, this time over procedural issues involving Caltrans’ revised environmental documentation.

In 2023, Caltrans completed another round of environmental review, released the revised documents for public comment, and approved the project once again. Opponents responded with yet another CEQA lawsuit.

This time, however, the Court of Appeal said enough was enough. The court dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that opponents could not continue challenging the same project by raising new legal arguments that could have been made years earlier.

In other words, the court said you cannot keep a lawsuit alive by coming back every few years with another argument that should have been included in the original case. At some point, litigation has to end.

The legal doctrine the court relied on is known as claim preclusion.

The disagreement wasn’t really about cutting down the giant redwoods. It was about protecting their roots.

Caltrans said it had designed the project to protect those roots. Instead of using conventional excavation equipment, the agency said it would use low-impact methods like compressed-air excavation and hand digging. It would also use specialized porous pavement designed to allow water and oxygen to reach the roots.

You’d think that would be the end of it, but it’s not.

The case has now moved on to the California Supreme Court. Opponents have asked the state’s highest court to review the Court of Appeal’s decision and erase its precedential effect. The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether it will take the case.

Stay tuned.