REDWOOD NEEDLES
REDWOOD NEEDLES
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Legislation introduced by Frank Riggs in early December has been overwhelmingly condemned by Northcoast environmentalists. Much of the Riggs legislation deals with the acquisition of the 3,000 acre Headwaters Grove in exchange for Bureau of Land Management forest land and other federal assets, but the eight section "Northwest California Forest Health and Economic Recovery Act," would also authorize:
At a ceremony in Eureka on Friday, December 1, Rep. Riggs and staff had announced the bill's introduction. "This comprehensive measure is the result of a year's work, forging compromises between competing interests. It represents the best way to spur economic growth on the North Coast, while providing for our environmental needs," Riggs said. He added that the Act provided "rational initiatives at jump-starting our local resource-based economy."
But according to representatives of seven environmental groups, the compromises had been reached without their involvement. "It's a very one-sided piece of legislation; he never sat down and talked with any of us. It's a serious failing in the bill," said Larry Moss, the Executive Director of the Smith River Alliance.
That review and others were offered during a press conference in front of Riggs' Eureka office. Larry Glass from the Trinity County Bioregional Group called the bill "a crazy stunt," Tracy Katleman of EPIC referred to it as "a virtual death sentence for the marbled murrelet and coho salmon," and Michael Evanson of the California Coast Provincial Advisory Commission labeled it a timber "giveaway" that would "result in a depression of timber prices." Evanson, a licensed timber operator, went on to note that restoration jobs in Humboldt provided by the county's Employment Development Agency had gone begging last summer as record timber volumes rolled into local mills and a surfeit of logs rotted on the decks. Glass is referring to the bill's Section 7, labeled "Adaptive Management of Timber Resources for Old Growth Dependent Species." The section calls for at least a 50 percent cut within the old growth forests in two areas - the Hayfork Adaptive Management Area in the Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers Forests, and in the lower Trinity and Mad River Ranger District in Six Rivers - "for purposes of testing the effect of ...harvesting of late successional and old growth timber on old growth dependent species." The Hayfork AMA was set up last year as part of the Clinton Forest Plan, Option 9, to give locals there a say in the forest's management.
As part of that group, Glass was adamant that "at no time has anyone advocated going into the last refuges of a threatened animal. It's been discussed and roundly dismissed." The Riggs' bill would also contract the planning, preparation and monitoring of the experiments dictated by Section 7 to private contractors, a gesture that Glass considered a slap in the face to Forest Service personnel. Since taking office, Riggs has repeatedly criticized the Six Rivers staff.
In a letter to Riggs from the Association of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, Field Director Bob Dale calculated that the legislation "would likely lay off the entire workforce of the Six Rivers National Forest. This equates to more than 200-full time employees. AFSEE doubts that you will come even close to making that up with contracting services." Based on a General Accounting Office study, Dale estimated that it would cost taxpayers an additional $2.8 million to contract the work currently done by Six Rivers employees.
Harsh criticism was also aimed at Section 2 of the bill, "Acquisition of Headwaters Forest." EPIC's Katleman and others at the press event opposed trading federal BLM forests for Headwaters, a scheme they said would only move the problem of habitat destruction somewhere else. Katleman also objected to the designation of only Headwaters Grove for federal protection instead of a larger, ecologically-based area.
The proposal sets up a process for the appraisal of Headwaters followed by negotiations between the Secretary of Interior and Pacific Lumber aimed at identifying equivalent value for a trade in BLM lands and/or other federal assets. If, after 18 months, no deal is reached, Katleman pointed out that PL would be given the green light to log Headwaters. "Riggs is playing God," she said.
In a related press statement, Riggs released two letters, one from his office to FDIC Chair Ricki Helfer inquiring about the possibility of a debt for nature swap for Headwaters and the other Helfer's response. The FDIC had filed a $250 million claim against PL/Maxxam owner Hurwitz in August seeking redress related to the $1.6 billion failure of a Hurwitz S&L. Environmentalists have been urging the government to forgive the debt in return for federal acquisition of Headwaters.
In his statement Riggs said that Helfer had ruled out debt for nature as "a viable option for exchanging the Headwaters Forest to satisfy any potential judgment regarding (the S&L)." But a reading of the FDIC Chair's letter seemed to contradict the Congressman. After stating that there is "no direct relationship between Headwaters Forest and the actions of Mr. Hurwitz," Helfer went on to note that "nevertheless, you may be assured that the FDIC remains open to any appropriate settlement of its claims, including a debt for nature swap."
The federal claims against Hurwitz grew last month. Joining the FDIC, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Thrift Supervision notified Maxxam, Hurwitz and one of his past associates, California State University Chancellor Barry Munitz, that it would also seek restitution. Those claims could add up to half a billion dollars.
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