The city of Hydaburg and five groups had sued to stop the spraying of herbicides on the Southeast Alaska island.

The Department of Environmental Conservation permit would have allowed Klukwan Inc., a Haines-based Native corporation that owns the property, to spray herbicides from a helicopter.

The agency issued the permit last year to Klukwan to spray two herbicides from the air to kill unwanted alder and salmonberry on more than 1,900 acres of clear-cut land owned by the Native corporation.