Deal to Save California Redwoods may Collapse
http://forests.org/-- Forest Conservation Archives
12/21/98
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Title: Deal to Save California Redwoods may Collapse
Source: Reuters
Status: Copyrighted, contact source to reprint
Date: 12/21/98
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -- A proposed nearly $500 million
deal to save the world's largest remaining grove of
privately owned ancient redwood trees is in jeopardy of
collapsing due to a new battle over environmental
safeguards.
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who helped
broker the accord two years ago, warned on Thursday that a
"major impasse" had erupted between logging company Pacific
Lumber and the state and federal governments.
With a funding deadline nearing, Feinstein scheduled a
bargaining session on Monday in her San Francisco office in
the hope of resolving the dispute and putting the agreement
back on track.
Under the proposal, the state and federal governments agreed
to buy 7,500 acres (3,035 hectares) of the Headwaters
Forest, the largest privately owned stand of virgin redwoods
-- arguably the most majestic trees on Earth.
As part of the agreement, Pacific Lumber presented a plan
detailing how it would manage its remaining 210,000 acres
(84,987 hectares) of forest.
Environmental activists, who normally support acquiring
threatened land for the purpose of preserving it, attacked
Pacific Lumber's Habitat Conservation Plan, calling it a
"license to kill" endangered fish and wildlife. Government
scientists also questioned the plan's protections for
threatened species.
The scientists' doubts led federal agencies to recently
demand that the company's conservation plan include greater
safeguards for threatened species, such as the coho salmon
and the marbled murrelet, an endangered bird that depends on
the huge trees for nesting places.
But Pacific Lumber balked at the tougher environmental
demands, saying they would cause economic hardship. "In
total, the proposed changes would have left Pacific Lumber
unable to operate effectively," Pacific Lumber President
John Campbell said. "We simply could not agree to a package
that would threaten our ability to survive and provide job
security to our employees."
With about two months left before the federal government's
$250 million funding share of the deal expires, negotiations
are at a critical stage. "A final agreement is going to have
to happen very quickly, otherwise there won't be time to
complete the deal and capture the federal money," said Phil
Carroll, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
in Portland, Oregon.
To complicate matters further, California state Senate
President pro tem John Burton threatened last week to
introduce legislation that would yank the state's $245
million share unless Pacific Lumber complies with the new
federal requirements.
Environmentalists said they were encouraged by the tougher
stance adopted by the federal agencies and state lawmakers,
but expressed dismay it had not come sooner.
"It's frustrating that a large number of prominent
biologists and an overwhelming majority of the public have
been calling for these kinds of protections to be
implemented all along, and they're only now being demanded,"
said Robert Parker, an activist in Arcata, California.
Pacific Lumber, now a unit of Houston-based MAXXAM Inc., has
been in business for 129 years. With 1,600 employees, it is
the largest private employer in California's Humboldt County
and contributed an estimated $170 million dollars annually
to Northern California's economy.
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited