Environmentalists fight redwood salvage logging

Tuesday, Sept. 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The forestry board on Monday rejected environmentalists' 11th hour attempt to block logging of dead and diseased tree in the Headwaters, the largest privately owned stand of old-growth redwoods in the world.

The board voted 6-0 to deny the request for adoption of emergency rules that would have prevented the salvage logging, saying that environmentalists had failed to prove a risk to endangered or threatened species.

"I'm not persuaded an emergency exists," said board member Richard Rogers, who made the motion for rejection.

Clinton help sought

Dana Stolzman of the Environmental Protection Information Center in Garberville said after the vote that environmentalists were hoping a federal judge in San Francisco or Clinton aides would block logging.

"Or a miracle," she added.

During a seven-hour session in South Lake Tahoe, scores of representatives of environmental groups told the Board of Forestry the emergency rules were needed to prevent severe damage to the forest and to protect fish and wildlife.

Dozens of representatives of timber organizations urged rejection of the proposal, saying environmentalists' concerns were unfounded.

The Natural Heritage Institute, on behalf of the Sierra Club and the Environmental Protection Information Center, filed the petition with the board, insisting that emergency rules be adopted to protect the state's old-growth forests from salvage logging, including an operation expected to begin next Monday in Headwaters Forest.

Pacific Lumber Co. owns Headwaters Forest, a 3,000-acre stand of ancient redwoods near Scotia, southeast of Eureka, in Humboldt County.

"This is so important I believe (Gov.) Pete Wilson should be here before you today making this presentation," said Brian Gaffney, representing the Sierra Club and EPIC.

The pending salvage logging "would have a terrible effect" on Headwaters Forest, added Kathy Bailey of the Sierra Club.

Leave forest alone

The environmental groups said they want the forest left untouched.

But California Department of Forestry attorney Norman Hill recommended rejection of the emergency petition. "We believe there is no emergency here," Hill said. The state board, part of Wilson's administration, regulates logging on private forest land.

An attorney for Pacific Lumber Co. said the environmentalists' plea had no merit. "This is a public relations thing to stampede you into something," Alson Kemp told the board.

Another Pacific Lumber Co. official, Tom Herman, said environmentalists were "here at the 11th hour contriving an emergency."

Environmentalists' proposed emergency rules would prohibit disturbance of endangered and threatened species, including the marbled murrelet in Headwaters Forest. But state and federal wildlife agencies have already concluded the company's planned salvage logging operation in Headwaters Forest would not violate state and federal laws protecting the marbled murrelet, a swift-flying sea bird.

The finding was the basis for the state Department of Forestry recommending Monday that the environmentalists' request be denied, Hill said.

Environmentalists have scheduled a logging protest on Sunday next to the forest and nearby company mill.

A pro-logging rally by people who make their living in the ailing timber industry is scheduled in nearby Eureka on the same day. Authorities said they are worried about a confrontation between the two groups.

A dozen armed CDF law enforcement officers provided security for Monday's meeting. CDF officials said the level of security was standard for meetings of the board, which often deals with highly controversial issues.

State approves cutting

Pacific Lumber has already won state court approval to start salvage logging of dead, dying or diseased trees in the forest after Sunday. That day is the end of the nesting season for the marbled murrelet.

Stolzman said environmentalists filed a request in federal district court in San Francisco in late August seeking a preliminary injunction to block logging. They're also urging the Clinton administration to issue a moratorium on logging, she added.

Asked if logging could begin Monday if those efforts fail, she said. "It could. We're worried about it."

The Department of Forestry said it, along with wildlife agencies, will make an unprecedented effort to monitor the salvage logging for compliance with state regulations.

The rules require no standing trees be cut or significantly damaged. Pacific Lumber must comply with the stringent rules because it used an exemption in the state's Forest Practice Act that allows removal of dead, dying and diseased timber without the filing of a Timber Harvest Plan.

The environmentalists' emergency petition sought to overhaul that exemption in forest practice regulations to provide better environmental review of proposed salvage logging operations.

Sunday is also the deadline a federal court set for the Clinton administration and Pacific Lumber's owner, Texas financier Charles Hurwitz, to reach an agreement for government acquisition of Headwaters.

Administration officials say the Headwaters Forest and a 1,700-acre buffer zone are the primary focus of private talks between federal negotiators and Hurwitz representatives. If a deal to swap the forest for surplus government land is not reached, a federal court will hear the company's claims that its property has been confiscated through regulatory constraints.