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| Voice of the Environment's mission is to educate the public regarding the transfer of public trust assets into private, mostly corporate, hands. | ||
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Ukiah office: 1330 Boonville Rd Ukiah, CA 95482 707-467-0329 |
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Marin office: 270 Beach Rd Belvedere, CA 94920 415-435-2007 |
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| For two decades, Voice of the Environment has stood up for the people and our communities against the avarice of corporations and the misguided policies of the corporate-dominated state. |
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Print This Article Friday, September 9th, 2005 Pacific Lumber Shirks Responsibility for Depleting Its Timber Base Environmental Protection Information Center Humboldt County, CA –In an announcement Wednesday, Pacific Lumber/Scotia Pacific (PL) again tried to shift the blame for its prospect of reduced harvest levels on the legitimate and necessary process currently underway under the auspices of the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board). The Humboldt County watersheds of Elk River and Freshwater Creek are so damaged from years of PL's overlogging that severe flooding and sedimentation has ripped away the natural functions of these watersheds, threatening both future timber harvests and the personal safety and security of downsteam landowners. As a result, the Water Board, pursuant to its legal duty, has proposed measures to recover the “beneficial uses” of water in these watersheds. Contrary to Pacific Lumber's arguments questioning the authority of the Water Board, the Water Board is under no legal obligation to defer to the judgments of other agencies when it performs its duty to recover beneficial uses of water in damaged watersheds. Pacific Lumber is once again blaming regulators for its own mismanagement, in this case years of overlogging resulting in rapid depletion of the company's timberlands. Moreover, Pacific Lumber's assertion in their September 7 release maintaining the government's responsibility for their economic well-being is laughable. First, the company relies for this proposition on a document, the Habitat Conservation Plan, that forms the scientific underpinning for an Incidental Take Permit which a Humboldt County judge ruled illegal about a year ago. Water agency economist Michael Gjerde's April 27 report found that "Maxxam has taken money out of Palco in complex and subtle ways and has directed Palco to harvest trees at rates that greatly exceed sustainable forestry practices," and found that "Maxxam removed at least $724 million in Palco funds for its own use." PL cannot claim foul when this mismanagement is directly responsible for its economic situation, and the people of the state should not have to pay for it by enduring further destruction of resources. "Pacific Lumber's aggressive and self-serving challenge to agency regulation belies its intention to remove as much of the timber resource as it can before it reorganizes the company or takes it into bankruptcy. We are seeing the end-game for Maxxam's control of these timberlands as Pacific Lumber blusters its way into oblivion. It must not be allowed to take the remaining resources of the forested watersheds of Humboldt County with it, and in so doing, compromise the ability of these timberlands to sustain jobs and natural functions over time" said Sam Johnston, Private Lands Campaigner for EPIC. "Pacific Lumber has always had trouble playing by the rules, and it is now, once again, trying to bend the rules to maximize its logging despite ongoing adverse cumulative impacts from its operations. PL has no one but itself to blame for its troubles, and the environmental community stands ready to discuss with all stakeholders a future for this company that promises sustainability for both jobs and forests," added Johnston. Print This Article |
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Voice of the Environment is a 501 (c-3) not-for-profit Montana-based corporation formed in 1991.
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