| Humboldt judge lets Pacific
Lumber logging continue
September 26, 2003 By Don Thompson Associated Press To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@sjmercury.com Sacramento, California - A North Coast lumber company can continue cutting timber under previous state approval, despite problems with the oversight of timber management permits and plans approved in 1999 as part of the historic Headwaters Forest agreement, a Humboldt County judge ruled Friday. Superior Court Judge John Golden rejected environmentalists' requests to effectively stop logging on some Pacific Lumber Co. timberlands. Pacific Lumber had warned that repealing the permits brokered through the Headwaters agreement could undermine the deal altogether, and it welcomed Friday's decision. "Clearly the judge thoughtfully considered the testimony of local business people that would have been severely impacted," company President and CEO Robert Manne said in a statement. "We continue to operate under our existing state-approved timber harvesting plans that include the most stringent environmental protections of any commercial timberland owner in the state." Manne said the company still is considering appealing Golden's underlying ruling invalidating state permits and future timber cuts. That, Manne said, raises questions about the validity of the entire Headwaters Agreement. The company acquired 211,000 acres as part of a $480 million deal in 1999 that gave the state and federal governments control of the largest privately-owned stand of ancient redwoods. But Golden ruled the state's plan for overseeing Pacific Lumber's logging of that land is fatally flawed. |