yHeadwaters, California Redwoods Grove Near Protection Deal?
7/21/96
OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE
Here is an update on the situation in the Headwaters old growth redwoods
area in California. We have followed the efforts to conserve this largest
remaining patch of redwoods that is not yet protected. It appears that
progress is being made in a debt for protection swap rather than
industrially harvesting this priceless biological resource. Following is a
photocopy of a UPI press article on the matter.
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Maxxam near redwood pact: report
7/19/96
Copyright 1996 by United Press International
ARCATA, Calif., July 19 (UPI) -- Financier Charles Hurwitz is near a deal
with federal and state regulators that would swap thousand of acres of
public and private land for California's Headwaters Forest, a published
report said Friday.
Headwaters is a grove of ancient redwoods that Hurwitz's Maxxam has been
trying to log for the past six years. The Wall Street Journal, citing
unnamed people familiar with the pact, said final details have not yet been
worked out.
The complex agreement is likely to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars
to Maxxam, which bought the forest in 1986 through its junk-bond takeover
of Pacific Lumber in 1986. Hurwitz incurred the rage of environmentalists
by doubling the logging rate on Pacific Lumber lands to meet debt payments
and has been blocked from logging Headwaters by suits over endangered
species.
Houston-based company and regulators had no comment on the report but
investors took it seriously and stock of Maxxam gained $3.75 to $41.50 a
share in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Maxxam and the federal government agreed last week to a stay in a recent
Maxxam lawsuit accusing the government of violating the company's private
property rights by blocking logging in the Headwaters and other company
acreage. The stay expires in September.
The negotaiations could fall apart because of significant differences in
the value of Headwaters, with federal experts estimating $100 million to
$200 million and Hurwitz claiming $500 million.
The report said that in addition to swapping timberland, the government is
considering swapping such properties as Treasure Island in San Francisco
Bay. The land could be worth hundreds of millions if it is commercially
developed by Maxxam, which has interests in forests, real estate and
aluminum.
Headwaters, near the northwest corner of California, is prized by
environmentalists because of its value as a pristine habitat for rare
animals such as the spotted owl and marbled murrelet.