Mendo Redwood Co Assumes Control Of Pacific Lumber

Environmentalists hail "new era" in Humboldt County

Humboldt Sentinel
News 6/8/08
By David Courtland

CORPUS CRISTI -- A Texas bankruptcy judge gave the green light June 6 to a plan for North Coast forests formerly held by now-bankrupt Pacific Lumber Company, ending a 23-year battle between environmentalists and Texas-based MAXXAM Corp.

Within a few weeks the Mendocino Redwood Company (MRC) will take over Pacific Lumber’s operations, including logging on 220,000 acres of Humboldt County forest, the Scotia Pacific Company and the PL mill in Scotia.

Judge Richard S. Schmidt’s ruling is real progress for the region, say spokesmen for the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) and the Sierra Club.

“At long last, MAXXAM is gone,” said Sam Johnston, private lands campaigner for EPIC. “This marks a new era for both the people and forests of Humboldt County.”

EPIC and the Sierra Club have battled PL’s logging practices‑especially clear-cutting that environmentalists consider destructive‑since MAXXAM’s CEO Charles Hurwitz orchestrated a hostile takeover the timber company in 1985.

Schmidt’s decision resolved uncertainties looming over the bankruptcy proceedings as creditors took positions on who should take over PL and its subsidiary, Scotia Pacific.

“This is a positive development for the forested watersheds and people of Humboldt County,” said Paul Mason with the Sierra Club. “We look forward to working with a company that has a much stronger track record of responsible management than its predecessor.”

Mason and Johnston say they hope to see a halt to old growth logging with permanent maintenance of timberland and use of selective harvest methods.

Environmentalists are also lobbying for permanent protection of some species habitat, with conservation areas for the marbled murrelet and other threatened wildlife.

Sierra Club and EPIC are optimistic that Mendocino Redwood Company can meet these challenges, said Johnston, although it needs to perform extensive restoration work on damaged watersheds such as Elk River, Freshwater and Bear Creek.

“MRC inherits a landscape that has suffered grievously from more than two decades of serious abuse,” he said. “We appreciate MRC’s background in restoration-focused forestry, and want to work with MRC to build a truly sustainable timber company for the long term.”

Johnston noted one of the first tasks the new owners face is changing PL logging plans already in the pipeline, including a plan to clear-cut redwoods next to Humboldt Redwoods State Park.