Eureka Reporter on Palco 2/9/05 PALCO Faces Financial Trouble; Critic Says It’s PALCO’s Fault by Glenn Franco Simmons The Eureka Reporter The Pacific Lumber Co. (www.palco.com/) reported Wednesday that it is working with the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, and separately with PALCO’s bank lender, in efforts to avoid a “financial liquidity shortfall.” “At PALCO, virtually all revenue comes from sales of lumber and other products produced from timber owned by our subsidiary, Scotia Pacific Co. LLC,” said Robert Manne, PALCO president and CEO. “This is why the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board should sign off …

Read more

Maxxam/Pacific Lumber Tries to Extort More Logging Plans at Top Levels of State Government Pacific Lumber is once again holding ancient redwoods hostage and threatening dire consequences for the community and for protected ancient trees if they don’t get what they want. We’ve seen this before. During Headwaters deal negotiations in 1998-1999, their extortion efforts were for money (half a billion tax-payer bucks) and concessions on their Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP)-this time they are extorting suspension of regulatory limits on their logging. Maxxam CEO Charles Hurwitz himself met in private with top aides of the Gov. Schwarzenegger on January 11 …

Read more

Stop Timber Industry Greenwashing Comments Needed by February 1 The timber industry’s American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) is pressuring the Green Building Council to promote wood from forests logged under the AF&PA’s “business as usual” Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) standards. The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) is the most powerful timber trade association in the world. Its member companies include the largest loggers in the United States and Canada and the largest wholesale distributors of global wood products. The construction and renovation of commercial and residential buildings in the U.S. consumes vast quantities of wood often from endangered …

Read more

Wednesday morning, as a warm day in dawned in the Rattlesnake Creek forest that feeds the headwaters of the Mattole River, two peaceful and dedicated tree-sitters (who are teachers at an environmental school) were visited by Eric Schatz, Maxxam/Pacific Lumber’s tree-sitter “extractor.” The tree sits started in the area last summer to save the steep old growth Douglas Fir grove and bring attention to the rapid devastation in the Mattole watershed caused by Maxxam/Pacific Lumber’s clearcutting, helicopter logging, road building, herbicide poisoning, and cutting of old growth trees. Pacific Lumber (PL), local front for Texas-based Maxxam Corporation, now outsources ALL …

Read more

Logging Plan Borders Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Highway 101 Humboldt County, CA – Signs dotting Northern California’s stretch of Highway 101 near the town of Red Crest declare the scenic passage the “Redwood Highway”, named for ancient redwoods that tower over its flanks. Passing through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which contains one of the largest remaining contiguous stands of ancient coast redwoods in the world, lengths of the famous thoroughfare are just a stone’s throw to ancient forest owned by Maxxam/Pacific Lumber -redwoods they plan to cut down in the coming weeks. The 65-acre Timber Harvest Plan (1-04-220 HUM) is …

Read more

>< 2nd annual Silent Auction and Celebration of Forest Activism >< Enjoy gourmet refreshments, wonderful music and celebrate the activist spirit while placing bids on GREAT STUFF like **hot springs retreats **handmade tree quilt **fleece and down gear **Trader Joe's gift bag **dinners at your favorite Bay Area restaurants **bikrim yoga classes **massage and chiropractic treatments **art **and lots more! many gift items...terrific deals. (list on the BACH website soon...) Music by special guest Joanne Rand, the Mercury Dimes, and Robert Temple only $5 admission SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5 4 - 8 pm at the Unitarian Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar at ...

Read more

Good news for a change… This is big news, and indicates the importance of the SYP case, and its resolution, but as Cynthia Elkins points out, though there is still road to travel on this one. The big tragedy of this case, as well, is the fact that already approved timber harvest plans were not constrained. posted here is the story from the Eureka Times Standard, 9/30/04 PL, state ordered to pay $6 million in EPIC case By John Driscoll The Times-Standard In one of the heaviest awards in a case of its kind, Pacific Lumber Co. and the state …

Read more

Humboldt county, California-Three forest activists were forcibly extracted from high in the enormous radial branches of a 600 year old redwood tree, lowered 150 feet to the ground and placed under citizen’s arrest by Maxxam/Pacific Lumber (PL) employees on Saturday, Sept. 25 near Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park in coastal northern California. A fourth activist was arrested on the ground. Immediately after the tree sitters’ removal, the grove of five ancient redwoods and the massive giant known as “Aradia” were cut down. The area is known as “Gypsy Mountain”, named in memory of young activist David “Gypsy” Chain, killed on …

Read more

Jury Stops Deliberation 6-2 in Favor of Plaintiffs The eight jurors in the Pepper Spray by Q-tip trial informed the judge at 3:15 Wednesday afternoon (9/22) that they were “hopelessly deadlocked” and could not find resolution through further deliberation. After encouraging them to rethink their opinions and meeting privately with the jury foreman, Judge Susan Illston declared a mistrial. It was then that plaintiffs and defendants learned there were six jurors in favor of finding that police had used unconstitutional excessive force against the activists and only two not of that opinion. The plaintiffs are the eight activists who sued …

Read more

The much-anticipated trial to determine if police violated Headwaters Forest activists’ civil rights when they applied pepper spray directly into their eyes with Q-tips will now start WEDNESDAY SEPT. 8, rather that Sept. 7 as previously scheduled. We were notified today by the Judge that another trial is overlapping, but everything else is going as scheduled. That means — INFO NIGHT at the Long Haul, with dinner, Fire In the Eyes film, and update from plaintiff/activists: Sunday Sept. 5, 7:30 pm Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley (near Ashby BART) SOLIDARITY RALLY as trial starts: Wed. Sept. 8 at noon …

Read more