Big News on the UC versus FEMA lawsuit

Wanted to update you on the latest developments in the UC versus FEMA lawsuit, where UC is attempting to undo the settlement agreement reached between FEMA and HCN a little while back.

As you may know, the Claremont Canyon Conservancy, a local homeowner group whose primary reason for being appears to be to destroy trees in the east bay hills, has petitioned the court to be allowed in to this case as an intervener.

If this were allowed it would likely derail any prospect of settling the case and would likely jeopardize work currently under way to do fire risk mitigation work.

Among the CCC claims is that they are concerned that UC might accept a settlement that the CCC would find unacceptable to them.. Very odd that a homeowner's group would attempt to position itself superior to the entity that is the actual party to the suit....but this is what they are attempting to do.

The good news is that at this point FEMA, HCN, Cal OES and EBRPD have ALL filed motions objecting to CCC's attempt to undermine proceedings. It is quite remarkable that we've reached the point where it's a small group of folks at UC, a handful of members of the Sierra Club and the Claremont Canyon Conservancy Board (not their membership) against EVERYONE else.

For those who have been following this epic conflict over the last decade this marks a truly remarkable change in the underlying reality. As a direct result of YOUR support our side has gone from being a powerless minority to creating a rational and environmentally sound majority position amongst public land managers.

To access these filings please go to the documents page of this site.