The California Board of Forestry has approved new rules governing logging near streams in coastal and mountain forests.
The new rules are designed to protect California's salmon population.
But some officials are concerned that they could do the opposite, according to a report in The Sacramento Bee.
The new rules follow pressure from the National Marine Fisheries Service over concerns that the existing rules on logging did not do enough to protect the salmon population.
However the report says that the federal fisheries service is worried that the new rules weakened existing controls.
And the service has warned that it may impose its own regulations on logging plans in some areas of California if state rules gain final approval at the forestry board's October meeting.
At the centre of the debate are protective buffers around streams and how so-called "Class 2" streams are defined.
Class 2 streams are those that hold water year-round and have important spawning habitat. They are fed by Class 3 waterways small tributaries that dry up in summer.
The concerns are over the erosion that could be caused near the streams by logging activity, the report says.
Concern for Salmon in new Logging Rules
US - New logging rules intended to protect California salmon may do just the opposite, according to federal officials who are considering additional industry monitoring to prevent extinction.
