Sierra logging case in Supreme Court A stalled Sierra Nevada salvage-logging venture is sparking the U.S. Supreme Court's next major environmental showdown. What began as a 238-acre Sequoia National Forest timber sale has drawn in big players on all sides. The fight, pitting California officials against the Bush administration, will determine how easy it will be to challenge future forest decisions nationwide. "It's ... whether or not the public has a right to be involved," Jim Bensman, an Illinois-based environmentalist who is involved in the case, said Friday. "The No. 1 priority for the Bush administration, aside from logging, has been to reduce public accountability." Attorneys are preparing for their Oct. 8 oral arguments. The case sounds acutely technical, as many key environmental disputes often do. The proposed timber sale itself, which got the ball rolling five years ago, has long since been canceled. But there's a reason that farmers, home builders, law professors and others still are weighing in: The winner could hold the key to the courthouse door. "The United States seeks ... to shield from judicial review certain rules that bar the public from participation in federal management decisions affecting national forests," California Attorney General Jerry Brown complained in a legal filing....