Timber sale swings $3.4 million for state

Published on April 9, 2003
The Tri-Valley Herald

As protesters chanted outside, three companies submitted bids Tuesday to log 540 acres of state-owned timber in Mendocino County, with the winning bid offering $3.4 million, or almost $1 million more than the minimum set by forest managers.

Technically, Eureka-based Schmidbauer Lumber Inc. can start logging as soon as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection signs off on the bid. The company agreed to pay $456 per 1,000 board feet— $80 above the next highest bidder and more than $100 above the minimum.

A typical 1,200-square-foot home needs 10,000 board feet of timber. The sale offered 7.5 million board feet of mature, second-growth redwood, with some of the bigger trees worth $40,000, according to the state.

"This is a good deal for the people of California," said CDF spokesman Louis Blumberg. "This is very selective logging ... Only one out of three trees will be harvested."

But 20 protesters outside the Jackson Demonstration State Forest offices in Willits had one message for forest managers: "See you in court."

Activists have a July court date on a lawsuit challenging the agency's forest management plan and promised Tuesday to seek an injunction against the sale until at least then.

"They're taking the best stuff," said Paul Hughes, executive director of Forests Forever. "It seems only fair and reasonable they should delay this cut until we have a hearing on our case."