(Eugene Weekly, November 19, 1998)
A California logging company associated with two pepper-spray incidents against protesters, the accidental death of another activist and hundreds of operational infractions, has had its license to log revoked. Last week, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection suspended Pacific Lumber Co.'s timber operator's license. Pacific Lumber (PALCO) is owned by the Houston-based corporate group, Maxxam.
"No major logging company has lost their license like this before - it's a historical precedent," says Paul Mason of the Environmental Protection Information Center. "That the department - [in a state] with a Republican administration that has been in cahoots with the timber industry - felt compelled to yank PALCO's license, that's pretty extraordinary."
According to press reports, the suspension has led to the laying off of 180 PALCO employees. The license suspension does not effect the company's independent contractors, which means about half of Pacific Lumber's operations will remain intact. At the end of this year, Pacific Lumber will be able to apply for a new license for 1999.
The list of violations amassed against Pacific Lumber includes 300 violations of the state's Forest Practice Rules, nine criminal misdemeanors, citations for destroying domestic water sources, 10 violations of a plan regarding logging on steep hillsides, non-compliance with winter logging regulations, and two violations of the Endangered Species Act for logging old-growth redwoods.
The department also found that Pacific Lumber was responsible for concealing information relating to illegal logging near a salmon stream until the cut logs were hauled to the mill. "The concealment and profiting from the concealment are willful violations ... attributable directly to PALCO and not to the contractor," wrote Ken Nielson, the state forestry department's deputy chief for Forest Practice Enforcement, in a recent memorandum.
Pacific Lumber has also been associated with widely-publicized incidents that involved logging protesters. In 1997, non-violent and immobile activists protesting logging at two different Pacific Lumber sites had their eyes daubed with pepper-spray by law enforcement officials. This past fall, a PALCO logger, who had that same day been screaming at protesters, cut down a tree in an area where the activists were known to be present; the fallen tree killed Earth First! protester David Chain.
PALCO initially told the press the loggers had no knowledge the protesters were in the area but later retracted its statement.
Pacific Lumber is currently negotiating with the federal government regarding a Habitat Conservation Plan for land PALCO wants to log. The plan allows an exchange of money and forest lands between the company and the state, and would also allow the logging of 500 acres of ancient forest lands and 8,000 other acres that also include some old-growth stands. The conservation plan would, for the next 50 years, assure the company impunity if the logging happens to damage the habitat of endangered species in those 8,500 acres.
The plan, being brokered by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the federal Fish and Wildlife Service, has evoked significant controversy. Mason says the recent suspension could likely weaken Pacific Lumber's credibility in its negotiations.
An important aspect of HCPs is that a company demonstrate environmental responsibility, Mason says. "And I can't think of any logging company with a more consistent disregard for following the rules than Pacific Lumber has."
According to EPIC, Pacific Lumber is not planning to appeal the suspension. - AT