Talks to save US redwoods resume
9/17/96
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Subject: Senator says talks saving U.S. redwoods to resume
Organization: Copyright 1996 by Reuters
Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 16:10:06 PDT
Expires: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 16:10:06 PDT
WASHINGTON (Reuter) - Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Tuesday that she
hopes negotiations will resume this week to save thousands of acres
of ancient California redwood trees from being logged by the timber
company that owns them.
The California Democrat said in a brief interview that negotiations
would resume ``at the very latest next week; I'd be hopeful before,''
to save the Headwaters Grove and nearby ancient redwoods in Humboldt
County.
``We're trying to get additional information'' before negotiations
resume, Feinstein said, without elaborating.
The government has been negotiating with Pacific Lumber Co., a unit
of MAXXAM Inc, to exchange the virgin forest for surplus federal land
or rights to harvest trees on other federal land. Maxxam pledged a
two-week moratorium starting Monday on taking trees in the area,
which is home to both endangered fish and birds.
The struggle between environmentalists and the company sparked one of
the largest one-day mass arrests in California history on Sunday. The
Humboldt County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday there were 897
arrests. Those arrests are keeping the focus on the negotiations.
Feinstein said she spoke with Deputy Interior Secretary John
Garamendi and California State Resources Secretary Doug Wheeler
Monday and planned to talk to them again Wednesday.
One of the key issues appears to be how many acres should be saved.
The company defines the grove and its buffer area as about 4,500
acres. Feinstein said that in addition ``there's some other little
areas in there with ancient forests that are called the lesser
cathdrals.''
Bob Irelan, a spokesman for Maxxam in Houston, said those other areas
amount to 1,800 acres and are also included in the moratorium. He
said no written list had been issued detailing areas were covered by
the moratorium.