Pacific Lumber Logging License may be axed
12/12/97
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Headline: Pacific Lumber Logging License may be axed
Source: Houston Chronicle
Date: 12/12/97
Author: David Ivanovich
Copyright 1997 Houston Chronicle
Washington Bureau
Logging license may be axed, Maxxam told
California looking into possible violations
WASHINGTON -- California regulators are
considering revoking a Maxxam subsidiary's
right to log in the state because of
possible violations of California's
forestry regulations.
California's Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection -- in a letter to
Houston-based Maxxam's Pacific Lumber Co.
-- said it is reviewing the company's
compliance record and warned it "may
initiate action to deny or revoke (Pacific
Lumber's) timber operator license based on
that record."
"While this notification is not required
by law, the department is doing so to
forewarn you of the potential for this
legal action against your license," Gerald
Ahlstrom, the Forestry Department's deputy
chief, wrote in a letter addressed to
Pacific Lumber President John Campbell and
obtained by the Houston Chronicle.
Scotia, Calif.-based Pacific Lumber owns
the largest stand of oldgrowth redwood
trees left in private hands and is one of
Northern California's largest producers of
redwood and Douglas fir lumber.
Ahlstrom said he was not trying to
threaten the company.
"This letter is an informal warning that
we are in the process of looking at their
record of compliance," Ahlstrom said. "It
doesn't mean we have decided one way or
another."
Ahlstrom did not specify what alleged
violations agency officials believed were
committed. The state has regulations on
such things as logging in stream zones,
road maintenance and erosion control
measures, he said.
But Ahlstrom added: "If we didn't have a
record of violations on them, we wouldn't
have sent out the letter."
Ahlstrom said agency officials will have
to evaluate the seriousness of these
alleged problems and then compare Pacific
Lumber's compliance record with those of
other companies.
"We want to be fair," he said.
The Forestry Department is expected to
make its decision before the end of the
year.
Pacific Lumber spokeswoman Mary Bullwinkel
said company officials "are going to have
to await the conclusion of their review,
to see what their decision is, before we
can actually determine what our next step
will be."
But she added: "We strive to be in full
compliance at all times."
The California Forestry Department
regulates about 2,000 logging companies
that operate in the state. Ahlstrom said
the department has sent out 11 warning
letters similar to the one issued to
Pacific Lumber.
"If past practice is any indication, we
will probably take action on six or seven
of them," he said.
Pacific Lumber currently is on probation
with the Forestry Department for failing
to properly winterize a road last year.
The company has been a particular target
of environmentalists nationwide, since it
was purchased more than a decade ago by
Maxxam, the Houston-based aluminum, timber
and real estate company controlled by
financier Charles Hurwitz.
Environmentalists have long accused
Pacific Lumber of violating state forestry
rules.
"That's what we've been telling the
company -- if you continue acting this
way, sooner or later, you're not going to
be able to do business," said Jill Ratner,
president of the Rose Foundation, an
Oakland, Calif.-based environmental group.
But Paul Mason, president of the
Environmental Protection Information
Center in Garberville, Calif., holds out
little hope regulators will really take
strong action against Pacific Lumber.
"I hope they follow through on it, but
it's been a long time since I've seen (the
California Department of Forestry) take
any meaningful action to restrict the
operations of Pacific Lumber. I would be
shocked if they really did shut down
Pacific Lumber's in-house logging
operations."
Pacific Lumber, with nearly 1,600 workers,
also is the largest employer in Northern
California's Humboldt County.
Just what a revocation of its logging
license would mean to Pacific Lumber is
not altogether clear.
About 200 of the company's employees are
involved in timber harvest work. The bulk
of Pacific Lumber's employees work in
mills.
The company also uses outside contractors,
which handle about 60 percent of the
logging done on Pacific Lumber's land.
Their licenses would not be affected by
the ruling.
The question of the license, however,
comes at a sensitive time for the company.
Maxxam is trying to sell 5,600 acres of
timberland to federal and state
governments for $380 million. The sale is
designed to preserve the Headwaters
Forest, the largest stand of ancient
redwood trees, as well as nearby Elk Head
Springs.
Congress has allocated the $250 million
federal share, although the purchase could
come up for consideration again next year.
California officials still are trying to
determine how to raise the state's $130
million contribution.