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Indybay Feature

We took a tour of Pacific Lumber last week!

by Raya (FightMaxxam [at] aol.com)
Activists take a company tour of adversary Pacific Lumber, in Humboldt CA...
There is a new environmental group called Children of Earth, dedicated to building the bridge between forest defenders in Houston, Texas and Humboldt County, California. Children of Earth also plans to approach Houston's MAXXAM, and its CEO Charles Hurwitz, intellectually, creatively, and on a regular basis.

As a Houston coordinator, I decided to take a trip to visit Humboldt and meet the forest defenders in person, as well as to scope out the devastation of the forest (http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/05/1615262.php). The appalling amount of clear-cuts, obvious erosions, disgruntled home owners, and pending SLAPP lawsuits (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) planted on activists, leaves me with the knowledge that what we are fighting for is real, it is tangible, and the permanent ecological damage caused by MAXXAM/ PL will take thousands of years to restore.

At MAXXAM’s annual shareholder meeting in Houston on May 21 (http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/05/1613259.php), concerns about the
endangered species and ecological devastation were addressed; MAXXAM offered us a tour of Pacific Lumber facilities when in the Humboldt area, in an attempt to demonstrate MAXXAM/PL's status as a model timber company. Four of us took them up on this offer to receive the grand tour on Thursday, May 29, hosted by Ruthanne Schulte (PL Environmental Stewardship Director), and Wayne Rice (PL Resource Forester). Upon arrival, Jim Branham (PL spokesperson), greeted us and refused to allow all four of us on the tour, stating that only I would able to go. I suggested the help of local activist, Jon Stevenson, as a cameraman, and the offer was received after some negotiating.

Although Pacific Lumber showed us a model company with the most beautiful timber harvest plans imaginable, nothing can erase the memory of MAXXAM/ PL's massive Freshwater clear-cuts I also witnessed on this trip. The fact that PL proclaimed the areas they chose to show us as demonstrative of MAXXAM/ PL's entire company policies was a bit disconcerting, since what they showed us was actually a selectively logged forest. They provided us with a map that showed 44% of MAXXAM/ PL's land marked in red as untouchable, preserved land. This was used to strengthen the fact that they use selective logging but, when asked, they softly admitted that just because this land is set aside does not mean it is virgin land, and very well could represent old clear-cuts.

When asked why MAXXAM/ PL will not relinquish the small percentage of old-growth Redwoods remaining on their harvestable lands, every one of them provided the unsatisfactory reasoning that MAXXAM/ PL has already given so much by setting aside acres for the Marbled Murrelet Habitat Conservation plans, that they
do not see a reason to relinquish the remaining harvestable old-growth Redwoods. It's hard to believe that just because MAXXAM/ PL has been forced to set aside a little land for preservation purposes that this gives them the right to annihilate that which remains "harvestable" and to destroy trees that are older than Jesus, and certainly older than the democracy of this country or the founding fathers of Pacific Lumber Company.

Also interesting to note is the fact that PL has acquired Incidental Take Permits as part of the of the Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) that allow them to kill endangered species. No other timber company has an Incidental Take Permit, which is essentially a permit that allows them to violate the Endangered Species Act and clear-cut endangered species habitat. They call it "taking"; others call it "killing".

While grateful that MAXXAM/ Pacific Lumber took the time to share their side of the story, I am not satisfied and nowhere near convinced that they represent a model timber company. I do, however, have full faith that this is not an impossible dream. Earth First! activist Darryl Cherney, who has long been entrenched in this campaign, posed a similar idea to MAXXAM at the annual shareholder meeting, through a speech that I read on his behalf. Part of his speech reads, "Can the corporate leaders of the 21st century decide that they want to be leaders of how we can make the world a better place? Can you conceive of making Pacific Lumber into a model timber company that practices truly sustained yield? Can you employ people to repair the earth, including the land you've logged and left with landslides and dead streams? Can there be a way a company like MAXXAM can live in harmony with the Earth?"

After the meeting, Cherney was quoted saying, "I suggested that they start to engage in preserving the environment as a corporate practice instead of mowing it down and destroying it. I realize that it is a bit of a pipe dream, but the bottom line is that we have to ask for what we want." That is what we are here to do- to ask for a sustained timber company; to ask for the small percentage of old growth trees left in this country to remain intact; to ask for an end to clearcutting practices; to ask for an end to the violence against peaceful protestors, perpetrated by PL's hired contractors such as Eric Schatz.

With a company like MAXXAM/ Pacific Lumber in the area, it was impressive to see the Humboldt community unite on this issue. The willingness of everyone to work together for a common goal, activists and county citizens alike, is truly inspiring. K-MUD (http://www.kmud.org), a local community sponsored radio station, was kind enough to open its doors for us to present our platform on their local show, Women on Wednesdays, and every forest defender that I met welcomed Children of Earth with open arms. Rest assured Humboldt, Children of Earth is here, we are watching and we will do everything in our power to help from Houston.


**NOTE: I do suggest that anyone heavily involved with this campaign contact MAXXAM/ PL to hear what they have to say. The more well-rounded our knowledge, the more reason we have to stand up for what we know to be true. We were able to record the majority of the Pacific Lumber tour on cassette tape, and will be happy to share it with anyone interested.

For more info, contact:

Children of Earth
PO Box 980751
Houston, TX 77098-0751
713-858-0074
FightMaxxam [at] aol.com



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by sinner
So, you are from Houston. That makes you some kind of expert or at best some kind of unbiased observer? You've planted your head so far up your ass that you couldn't observe a redwood seedling if it was poked up your nose. Speaking of that, why don't you try planting a few trees yourself instead of bitching, then you may gain a slim grasp of the 1,000,000 + trees PL plants annually. YOU ARE A LIAR of the first order, and deserve to be catagorically debunked. Feel your shame as your statements fail the observation test.\

<the permanent ecological damage caused by MAXXAM/ PL will take thousands of years to restore. >
Really? Wow! Then perhaps you would like to elaborate on how the entire Elk River and Freshwater watersheds restored themselves (without the enhancements of replanting and brush control) within 60 - 80 years of their initial watershed-wide clearcut with no rules or restrictions, and logs were skidded directly down the creeks?

<The fact that PL proclaimed the areas they chose to show us as demonstrative of MAXXAM/ PL's entire company policies was a bit disconcerting, since what they showed us was actually a selectively logged forest. >
This is a blatant lie, for Freshwater (where you visited) has a wide array of past and present clearcuts as well as selections. Your uneducated eye (where did you say your forestry degree was from? Houston? Right.) undoubtedly misinterpreted 10 and 15 year old clearcuts as partial harvests because the trees weren't as mature as what you predetermined they should be.

<They provided us with a map that showed 44% of MAXXAM/ PL's land marked in red as untouchable, preserved land. >
Girl, you can't even get statistics right. The actual percentage number of restricted lands is 64%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get it straight you hack.

<This was used to strengthen the fact that they use selective logging but, when asked, they softly admitted that just because this land is set aside does not mean it is virgin land, and very well could represent old clear-cuts. >
What? Do realize that this makes absolutely no sense at all? What are you saying? That PL clearcuts old growth in the restricted areas? Huh?

<It's hard to believe that just because MAXXAM/ PL has been forced to set aside a little land for preservation purposes that this gives them the right to annihilate that which remains "harvestable" and to destroy trees that are older than Jesus, and certainly older than the democracy of this country or the founding fathers of Pacific Lumber Company. >
First of all, it's not just a "little land" that's been set aside. It is the entirety of the remaining uncut blocks of PL owned old growth PLUS a hugely buffered area around each stand of less mature timber. DO NOT DOWNPLAY THIS! The acreage that is encompassed is a huge amount of acreage approximately 7,313 acres which is TWICE AS BIG AS THE HEADWATERS you scurvy maggot. I resort to slinging epithets because the sheer outlandish brazenness of your falsehoods demands that you absorb some personal humiliation.

<No other timber company has an Incidental Take Permit...>
I invite you to do some actual investigation and check out Simpson, Weyerhaeuser, and Boise Cascade. DUH. Wrong again, doesn't that suck?

<it was impressive to see the Humboldt community unite on this issue.>
Far from it. We are about as divided as it gets. What phantasy world are you from?

Just because you disagree with MAXXAM / PL doesn't give you license to purjer yourself. Of course compensating with speculation over what you cannot comprehend is a common trait of the cult of personality which you seem to have wholeheartedly joined. blah, blah, blah.
by me
Give me a break. 60-80 years would bring back a stand of first growth trees. It would take thousands of years to grow the old growth back.
by sinner
I don't believe old growth was the issue dumbass. The topic was "permanent ecological damage". Pay attention and I'll let you play the game.
by Revenooer
Freshwater hasn't recovered from the first round of logging. There's lasting damage from old steam donkey yarding scars, skid roads, landings, etc. that doesn't clear up in such a short time. These still have a severe effect on basin hydrology. Vegetative impacts are relatively short term. Given this situation, active remediation is required and will cost money. The only way to get the required money is by generating revenue from timber harvests. That's what the aquatic conservation strategy is all about. Don't expect enviros to see it this way. They want the tooth fairy to take care of the old problems.
There sure are a lot of standing young redwoods in the recently "devastated" Freshwater "clearcuts", including some merchant size ones in the class III zones. These trees have been shade released and there will be some rapid growth. This harvest is primed for fast recovery.
by *@~*&
sinner just doesnt get the facts crying about PL's
problems just watch sinna.
All across the country logging/lumber mills have been
going extinct. Thats right when I take my little sunday
drive I go by the old dead lumber yards here and in
other county's just to laugh at your past. Think about it buddy you don't seem any new mills springing up, and
your lay offs of the locals in this county proves that busness isnt "growing" its dying. The county is divided
and your "sitting" on the wrong side of the fence
so save your little facts battle Bee-yoch
by sinner
Indeed retiscent scars may still exist, but when yokels claim thousands of years or never for mother nature to heal harvested lands, I balk. I ask you, brother, to look at the long lasting damage done by large scale forest fires on federal lands and wilderness areas, and can you not admit that, although initially severe, they are far from permanent.
by Revenooer
Children of the Earth is another name for bugs referred to as cricket gophers. They're not as romantic as butterflies, but they both have an insect's understanding of forest issues.
Yes, Raya, the Humboldt community is united on these issues. That's why the plaintiffs in the pepper spray suit against Humboldt County want the trial moved out of the area. Animosity towards the protestors runs so deep in the potential jury pool in Humboldt County that the plaintiffs don't think they can get a fair trial here. Most of the support for the protestors is from people in the marijuana economy, trustafarians, transients, college kids from SoCal, retired yuppies, and other people so divorced from reality that they don't have a clue what's going on.
PL wasted their time showing you around, Raya. You will never have an open mind because your identity is tied to your ignorance, like your friends in Humboldt. You deserved the back of their hand.
by Same old B.S.
Hey Buttwipe *@~*&,
The only reason that sawmills are closing is because of morons like you. You say that you laugh when you go by a lumber mill thats been shut down, I will laugh at you when you and the rest of you morons cause the biggist disaster thid country has ever seen and there will be NO! old growth standing in N. CA. It's coming, just wait and see. You and your group will then be hunted like dogs.
by Swingline
Hey same old B.S. that wouldn't be a threat would it? And from a "non-violent" type like you?
by M.M.
Well, as always I look at both sides of the issue and have found this post the pathetic one yet. Not for the initial story, but for the comments.

I took these facts to P.L. and found out that they ARE in fact true. But the way the stroy was written it seemed to downplay a lot of the 'good' points of P.L.

Sinner, as much as I enjoy reading you intencivly biased stories, this one is one of your worst. I know you can do better than this and actually take a tour of P.L. yourslef. You'd be surprised.

As I have stated in the past, I am against Old Growth logging in anyway. I am against clear-cuts. BUT I am not against logging in general. Simply enough, we NEED wood and wood products. See, I am on both sides. But do to the imoralities of P.L./Maxxam I have taken the side of the sitters.

Sinner, I'm just curious, you heard about the whole deal where it was found that any and all timber harvest plans of P.L. since March of 1999 were actually deemed illegal, right? What have you to say about that? Check the Time-Standard archives if you don't know what I'm talking about.

So I'm going to leave saying that this post is merely satisfactory and allof the bashing comments were pathetic.

-M.M.
by sinner
Yeah, I gotta chime in here. You enviros are all wrapped up in your cause and seem to be mildly titillated by news that lumber mills are closing and people are losing their jobs basically due to the extreme environmental restrictions that a certain company was forced by the government (at your behest) to absorb. I think what you are failing to realize is that a man with wood-sense who has no job, a family, a lot of anger, and nothing to lose may just decide to hunt people instead of deer someday. And you think pepper spray or thumb twisting or the rare tackle and puch in the woods is bad. To be honest, I am surprised and thankful that it hasn't happened yet. Get a grip on the ramifications of what you are really doing. It's all been fun and games so far, but when you start fucking with people's livelihoods, there's about 2 or 3% of the flock who may go rabid and actually bite without care of the consequences.
by You dont understand the ruling.
Go read it yourself.
by sinner
M.M.,
Which facts did you check that were true or untrue? And just what part of my statistics and/or statements did you find false? I am not interested in making stuff up; I just correct the false numbers that get bandied about by unfriendly opponents.

Interestingly enough I have been on PL's property via foot and air power several times. Although the industrial forestlands look can be distracting, what struck me most was the sea of trees I saw. When I double checked those areas and drainages later, I found that many of those areas were restricted for various reasons, and that they were off limits to logging.

As for the March 1999 decision, that was open to interpretation, and legal repercussions have not stuck, have they?
by sinner
I gather you are 14. Do you mind telling me how you became an activist? I'm not interested in slamming you; I'm just curious. Do you actually know any timber professionals i.e. loggers, foresters, tree planters, equipment operators, etc.?
by WHY HAS EARTH FIRST BAILED ON PROTESTERS??
WHY HAS EARTH FIRST BAILED ON PROTESTERS??

they have been pushing for money bigtime...where is the support? what are they doing? what is this stuff about a record company?
by free
WHO is this Wayne Rice Chump anyway PL resource forester my ass, he is a puppet.
by wr
I am wayne rice and if strapping one on and putting it to your wife while you are gone makes me a puppet then smoke my puppet.
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