>Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 11:18:00 -0700 (PDT) >X-Sender: epic@pop.igc.org >To: hfcc@lists.sanmateo.org >From: epic@igc.org (EPIC) >Subject: Bad Sac Bee Editorial >Sender: <HFCC@lists.sanmateo.org> >List-Software: LetterRip Pro 3.0.2b1 by Fog City Software, Inc. >List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:HFCC-off@lists.sanmateo.org> > >Sacramento Bee Editorial >May 29, 1998 > >A historic effort to buy Pacific Lumber Co.'s Headwaters forest and to >devise a 50-year plan of environmentally sustainable logging for 200,000 >adjacent acres now faces the buzz saw of Capitol politics. Because of the >concerns of a few lawmakers, most notably Sen. Byron Sher, the state's >pledge to provide $130 million that would go to the lumber company (as well >as $250 million in federal funds) in exchange for Headwaters, the largest >grove of ancient redwoods in private hands anywhere in the world, is now at >risk. The Legislature is playing politics, and dangerously so, in a complex >field of wildlife biology. > >The fuss is primarily about fish, namely coho salmon, a threatened species >along the North Coast. Part of the salmon's plight stems from decades of >lax state regulations that have allowed too much logging too close to >streams. For the salmon, what is most important isn't the fate of the >Headwaters, but the integrity of a habitat and logging plan for adjacent >acreage. > >State and federal government biologists believe they have devised such a >plan. It goes far beyond state regulations by banning any logging within 30 >feet of streams and placing strict limits on logging between 30 feet and >170 feet. That should maintain the integrity of slopes and leave plenty of >trees standing to provide the creeks with salmon-sustaining shade. Some >environmental groups insist on no logging up to 170 feet. Yet government >biologists contend that such logging restrictions are not necessary and >thus can't be forced onto the lumber company in the name of species >restoration. > >The political tunnel-vision over logging also ignores other aspects of the >habitat plan that dramatically reduce sediment runoff into streams. Pacific >Lumber has agreed to storm-proof 50 miles of its dirt logging roads every >year. While a logging site is a temporary producer of stream sediment, >poorly maintained logging roads (and Pacific Lumber has plenty) are >permanent threats to fish. > >Normally, political bodies don't get to noodle with the specifics of >habitat restoration plans. Under the federal and state endangered species >acts, private landowners are to work with government agencies, not >legislators, to devise such preservation plans so that land activities can >proceed without harming the species. The Legislature, which has a unique >role in providing the money to buy the Headwaters, should not use this >leverage by setting a dangerous precedent of second-guessing wildlife >biologists. > >What lawmakers should do, however, is make sure that Pacific Lumber lives >up to its end of the deal. The government and Pacific Lumber are now >drafting the specific details of the 50-year logging strategy. Any >deviation sought by Pacific Lumber on what it had agreed to in principle is >a legitimate cause of concern. Given the company's hard-ball lobbying >tactics and track record of repeated forestry rule violations, there is >plenty of reason to be vigilant. Now is not the time for any party to try >monkey business. There are simply too many ways for this worthy effort to >fall apart. > > >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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