Pacific Lumber Losing Logging License
12/23/97
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Headline: Pacific Lumber Losing Logging License
Sources: Reuters, ABCNews, and Starwave
Date: 12/23/97
Copyright 1997: Reuters This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright 1997: ABCNews and StarwaveCorporation This
material may not be published, broadcast,rewritten, or redistributed in
any form.
S A N F R A N C I S C O, Dec 23 -
California announced on Tuesday it plans to
revoke the logging license of Pacific Lumber,
a company that enraged environmental activists
with its plans to cut down an ancient grove of
redwood trees.
The move by the state's forestry
department would effectively halt the Maxxam
Inc. unit from doing its own logging in the
200,000 acres of California forest it owns
beginning in 1998.
Gerald Ahlstrom, deputy chief of forest
practice enforcement at the California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection,
said he's taking action against Pacific Lumber
after a compliance review showed the company
had racked up more than 100 code violations
during the past three years.
Most of the violations were associated
with erosion control measures, he said.
"We have notified Pacific Lumber that we
plan on denying their timber operator's
license for 1998," Ahlstrom said.
A group of California property owners sued
Pacific Lumber, Maxxam Inc. and its chairman
Charles Hurwitz earlier this month, accusing
the defendants of causing mudslides, floods
and destruction of the local watershed through
"recklessly irresponsible logging."
Barring an agreement between the two sides
or some kind of legal maneuver before Jan. 1,
1998, the state's decision to not renew
Pacific Lumber's license would prevent it from
logging in California. The company would,
however, be allowed to use contractors to do
the work.
Long, Bitter Battle
Pacific Lumber, local law enforcement
authorities and environmentalists have been
locked in a bitter battle for several years
over the company's plan to log a tract of
ancient redwood trees in Humboldt County.
Celebrities such as actor Woody Harrelson and
singer Bonnie Raitt were among those who took
part in recent protests against the company.
Pacific Lumber spokeswoman Mary Bullwinkel
said about half of the company's logging is
done by contractors and the other half is done
by company employees. Bullwinkel was not
immediately able to give details on the number
of trees logged by the company on a yearly
basis.
"We are in discussions with the California
Department of Forestry and are hopeful that we
can resolve this issue and get our license
renewed," Bullwinkel said.
Environmentalists reacted coolly to the
news, saying authorities should have acted
years ago.
"I would be ecstatic if I wasn't so
cynical," said Paul Mason, president of
Environmental Protection Information Center.
"Pacific Lumber has been operating in reckless
disregard of the rules for years, and a lot of
these violations have caused irreparable
damage to public resources."
Ahlstrom's office issues logging licenses
to about 2,000 companies each year. He said
probably four or five of those will have their
licenses revoked in 1998.