Make Loggers Follow Rules
12/28/97
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Headline: Make Loggers Follow Rules
Source: The San Francisco Examiner
Date: 12/28/97
Copyright 1997: San Francisco Examiner
THE CALIFORNIA Department of Forestry's threat to deny
Pacific Lumber Co. a logging license for next year may
be an overdue sign that the state is serious about
environmental safeguards. Then again, if reports prove
true that a license is likely to be renegotiated before
New Year's Day, it may just be business as usual.
The forestry department is not known as a rigorous
enforcer of rules aimed at reducing damage to the
state's timber lands and wildlife habitat. No major
timber firm has ever had a license denied or revoked.
But Pacific Lumber is a special, high-visibility case
that, according to its critics, warrants a crackdown
for consistent violations.
The company is a particular target of environmentalists
because its 200,000 acres in Humboldt County include
some of the few remaining old-growth redwood groves.
State and federal officials are trying to conclude a
$380 million deal to buy 7,500 acres of Headwaters
Forest for preservation from cutting, while Pacific
Lumber agrees to conservation measures in areas to be
logged. The company's recent practices under the
corporate parentage of Charles Hurwitz's Maxxam Corp.,
however, raise skepticism about any new promises of
environmental caution and care.
The state forestry department cited Pacific Lumber for
more than 100 violations of the state Forest Practices
Act in the past three years. Allegations include
failure to control erosion, poor road maintenance,
clogged culverts and logging on wet roads. Punishment
so far has been trifling.
Revocation of Pacific Lumber's license would not stop
all logging on its land because about half of it is
done by separately licensed contractors. If state and
company officials work out their differences by Jan. 1,
we hope it's a sound deal with real protections. We
hope the state's tough-sounding rhetoric is not an
empty gesture to fend off criticism.
Intense public attention will stay focused on Pacific
Lumber and Headwaters to track what happens to that
precious environment, whether or not the federal-state
Headwaters purchase is completed. Either way, the
timber company and state forestry officials should get
used to rigorous observance of legal requirements to
limit the damage from tree-cutting operations.