Substantial Evidence Test Case Example In California

In Gallegos v. State Bd. of Forestry (1978) 76 Cal. App. 3d 945 [142 Cal. Rptr. 86], the Camp Meeker Improvement Association and several individuals asserted on appeal that they had a fundamental vested right in a lumber company not obtaining a timber harvesting license because the proposed logging operation posed an increased fire danger in the area and could cause irreparable harm to the water supply upon which appellants relied. The Gallegos court concluded that, although a fundamental right was involved, neither appellants nor the public had a present possessory, or vested right in the subject timberlands, and thus "It was not error for the trial court to apply the substantial evidence test in reviewing the factual findings of the board." (Gallegos, supra, at p. 950.)