>
>
>
> Sen. Burton Calls Headwaters Deal
> Toppled
> Greg Lucas, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
>
> Friday, August
>21, 1998
>
> The leader of the state Senate said yesterday that as
> far as he is concerned, a much-debated deal to
> purchase the Headwaters Forest has collapsed.
>
> Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San
> Francisco, said Pacific Lumber, the owner of the
> 3,000 acres of ancient redwoods in Humboldt
> County, has refused to compromise.
>
> ``The company has taken a no- negotiation,
> no-change position. They refuse to address our
> legitimate concerns,'' Burton said after an afternoon
> of talks with company officials.
>
> Pacific Lumber President John Campbell disputed
> the claims.
>
> Burton's comments came on the same day Pacific
> Lumber began running newspaper ads touting a deal
> it cut with U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Clinton
> administration and the Wilson administration.
>
> That deal, which would combine $250 million in
> federal money with the state's $130 million to buy
> Headwaters and an adjoining 4,500 acres, does not
> go far enough, Burton and other state Senate
> Democrats say.
>
> Burton has made the state's participation in the
> Headwaters purchase contingent on commitments
> by Pacific Lumber to not log within 100 feet on each
> side of fish-spawning streams located on the firm's
> other 190,000 acres in Humboldt County.
>
> ``If they ain't budging, they ain't getting $130 million
> of state taxpayer money outta me,'' Burton said.
>
> Environmentalists say the no- cut buffers should be
> 170 feet. Until yesterday, Pacific Lumber would
> agree to no more than 30 feet.
>
> Campbell said yesterday that his firm has agreed to
> not log within 100 feet of fish-bearing streams
> whose banks are susceptible to landslides, at least
> for three years while watershed studies are
> conducted. ``The company's come a very, very long
> way on this issue and we've been more than
> reasonable,'' Campbell said.
>
> State lawmakers and the firm have been negotiating
> for months. It is unclear whether further talks are
> scheduled. If no further progress is made, the
> Headwaters deal dissolves in March 1999, when the
> $250 million pledge from the federal government
> expires.
>
>
>
>The Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC)
>P.O. Box 397
>Garberville, CA 95542
>(707) 923-2931
>Fax 923-4210
>http://www.igc.org/epic/
>Contact us at epic@igc.org to join our listserver
>
>
>
>
>
David M. Walsh
P.O. Box 903
Redway, CA 95560
Office and Fax(707) 923-3015
Home (707) 986-1644


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