Pacific Lumber Loses Bid for Protective Order Against Treesitters

Eureka, CA - In a civil lawsuit against citizens protesting logging of old-growth redwoods, the Maxxam-owned Pacific Lumber Company was stuck down in their plea for a Protective Order that would dismiss them from admitting hundreds of logging violations.

Jeny Card and Lindsey Holm, who were forcibly removed from ancient redwoods by Pacific Lumber-hired contractors, requested in July the company admit a slew of broken logging regulations. Attorneys for PL called the requests “unreasonable” and “unnecessary,” and asked the court for a protective order.

In his ruling, Judge W. Bruce Watson cited the law, which states that information relating to either PL’s allegations or Card and Holm’s defense may be sought in this phase of the lawsuit. PL alleges Card and Holm disrupted a “lawful” business, but the two maintain PL’s pattern and practice of logging violations throws into question the legality of their timber harvest operations.

Although Judge Watson ordered PL to respond to some of the requests, he dismissed others, such as those relating to water quality and endangered species. PL was cited in 2003 for incomplete and insufficient surveys for the Northern Spotted Owl in the timber harvest plan where Card and Holm were arrested. The two, along with dozens of others, were arrested and sued for protesting logging in the Freshwater Creek watershed, which is listed as impaired by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Environmental Protection Agency under Clean Water Act Section 303(d). Card and Holm intend to bring these issues back in front of the judge.

Pacific Lumber has taken to filing sweeping lawsuits against citizens who oppose their destructive logging practices over the last several years. Holm sought to point this out by asking Pacific Lumber to admit they wrote the complaint “to be overly broad and inclusive to snare as many citizens as possible in the event they were served” with the lawsuit. The court ordered PL to respond to the request.