Posted 12/13/96

Bay Area newspapers recently have reported that MAXXAM Group, Inc., and government negotiators may be near an agreement in which MAXXAM would set aside only 6,000 acres of its redwood forest lands as a protected public preserve.

MAXXAM wholly owns Pacific Lumber Co. (PL), which in turn owns the 60,000-acre Headwaters Forest. MAXXAM reportedly is discussing relinquishing the virgin 3,000-acre Headwaters Grove and a nearby buffer zone of 3,000 acres in exchange for other properties.

While accepting a 6,000-acre deal might be a temptation for some, the coalition of major environmental groups involved in the Headwaters campaign say that preserving the integrity of the 60,000-acre Forest is a biological necessity. Settling for only 6,000 acres would almost certainly doom the remaining 54,000-odd acres to the chainsaw. Such a cut would sacrifice five smaller virgin groves totaling about 3,000 acres and residual old-growth habitat occupied by listed or candidate endangered species.

Further, a redwood forest island of only 6,000 acres surrounded by cutover land stands a doubtful chance of ecological survival. Drying wind and blowdown would encroach deep into such a parcel. Threatened Marbled murrelets would face exposed risk of predation, due to a closer-in forest edge. Riparian habitat of Coho salmon would be destroyed.

Thus an intact 60,000-acre Headwaters Forest is not only desirable for saving the most virgin acreage and buffer territory, but also may be the only structure that could ensure long-term survival of the area's redwood forest ecosystem.

It is critical that Californians send a clear, strong message to President Clinton that we are counting on his leadership in this election year to save Headwaters Forest. Clinton has the power to protect the entire Forest and the future of the salmon and wildlife that depend upon it. He has stated he is supportive of saving Headwaters.

"One of three remaining, viable wild Coho salmon populations in California spawn in the streams below Headwaters Forest," said Jesse Noell, Forests Forever board member and founder of the Coho Salmon Defense. "We must protect the Coho and its habitat because elsewhere on cutover lands salmon are in a death spiral to extinction."

MAXXAM and its chairman Charles Hurwitz are defendants in actions brought by the federal government in connection with the fifth largest S&L failure in U.S. history, that of United Savings Association of Texas (USAT) in 1988. Hurwitz still must answer for his actions in this matter: Any steps he may take in giving up Headwaters Forest do not excuse his actions in looting USAT to finance his takeover of PL. To pay the debt on junk bonds used in the takeover Hurwitz nearly tripled the rate of logging on PL's lands.

Clinton must resist MAXXAM's attempt to open up most of the Forest to logging. He must support a solution that truly protects murrelets and salmon and saves the ancient groves-- not a plan that merely amounts to a potentially short-lived tree museum.

What you Can Do:

Call or write President Clinton and tell him to reject any compromise that falls short of protecting the biological integrity of the 60,000-acre Headwaters Forest.

President Bill Clinton
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
202/456-1111 phone
202/456-2461 FAX
president@whitehouse.gov