California Restores License to Redwood Logger
1/2/98
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Headline: California Restores License to Redwood Logger
Source: Reuters
Date: 1/2/98
Copyright 1997: Reuters Limited.All rights reserved.
Copyright 1997: Cable News Network, Inc. A Time Warner
Company
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 31 (Reuters) - California will issue a
conditional 1998 timber license to Pacific Lumber Co.,
ending threats to punish a company that has enraged
environmentalists with its plans to log ancient redwoods.
Officials at the state department of forestry said on
Wednesday the provisional license would be issued because
the company had agreed to ``extensive increases'' in the
supervision of its activities.
California said last week that Pacific Lumber, a division of
MAXXAM Inc., would not be allowed to log its estimated
200,000 acres of forest in 1998 because of three years of
code violations, mostly involving erosion control measures.
The move followed a suit brought against the company earlier
in December by California property owners who charged
Pacific Lumber with causing mud slides, floods, and
destruction of the local watershed through ``recklessly
irresponsible logging.''
Pacific Lumber has also been engaged in a bitter battle with
environmentalists over its plan to log a tract of redwood
trees in northern California's Humboldt County.
Celebrities, including singer Bonnie Raitt and actor Woody
Harrelson, have joined in protests against the company, whom
they accuse of seeking to destroy one of the last unspoiled
parts of California's natural environment.
Under the new agreement with the California Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection, Pacific Lumber will provide
officials with keys to its properties and hold them open for
surprise inspections.
It will also follow new restrictions on where and how it can
log on the properties, aimed at reducing the threat of
further erosion.
Forestry officials said the provisional license could be
summarily revoked if it receives credible complaints that
the company is ignoring the new agreement.