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Maxxam/Pacific Lumber (PL) has become notorious for violating the law - making national headlines when it was caught lying to a federal judge and when it became the only logging company to lose its license to log in California. It is now attempting to distance itself from this sordid past, with an advertising blitz to promote its "new image" and claims of "sustainable" practices. However, an EPIC investigation shows this fallacious, "extreme makeover" is nothing more than cosmetic, and that in Humboldt County, Maxxam/PL's pattern of violating the law rages on.
In fact, Maxxam/PL's long list of violations has gotten substantially longer since it received its Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) five years ago. EPIC's records show the California Dept. of Forestry (CDF) and Dept. of Fish and Game (DFG) issued 242 violations of its HCP and the Forest Practice Rules during that time.
These violations could not be more serious for forests, fish, and wildlife. For example, nearly 30% were issued because Maxxam/PL cut trees in areas where chainsaws are supposed to be prohibited, with most of these incidents occurring along rivers and streams. PL also received 15 violations related to the endangered marbled murrelet, including many for logging old growth murrelet habitat without getting approval from DFG. Numerous other violations were issued for illegal logging operations that harmed the northern spotted owl and rare plants (see page 8 for a full breakdown of PL's violations).
A Familiar Story - A Pattern and Practice
In 1997, another investigation by EPIC revealed that CDF issued at least 250 violations to PL between 1995 and 1997. These violations continued to accumulate in 1998, and following pressure from EPIC and others, CDF revoked its license to operate in California.
Maxxam/PL also became famous for its violations in an area known as Owl Creek. The company fought for years to obtain a permit to log the heart of this ancient redwood grove, and when its efforts failed, PL twice brought in chainsaws and began unlawfully leveling giant trees. This illegal logging was finally stopped by activists who took to the woods and by EPIC's litigation, including a federal lawsuit that was ultimately upheld all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. This area, together with the site of the infamous "Thanksgiving Day Massacre" logging spree, is now in public hands.
Turning a Blind Eye
Despite the number and severity of Maxxam/PL's violations - and a history that demonstrates a willful intent to commit them - CDF and DFG have done little to see that they are stopped. Indeed, both agencies have actually defended Maxxam/PL's record in the press, making erroneous statements that do not hold up to the facts. For example, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, "Louis Blumberg, a spokesman for CDF, said that after several initial violations of the habitat conservation plan, Pacific Lumber's compliance `...has gone up significantly.'"
It is obvious that CDF and DFG are either not paying attention or are intentionally misleading the public; whichever it may be, it does not reflect well on their public trust responsibilities or job performance. Since they are failing to do so, EPIC is pursuing all legal avenues to ensure these violations are stopped, and is also launching a public outreach campaign to expose Maxxam/PL's "green-washing" scam for what it is.
Maxxam/Pacific Lumber's Violations
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1999: 15
2000: 8
2001: 74
2002: 74
2003: 67
By Category
Harming Marbled Murrelet: 15
Harming Northern Spotted Owls: 12
Destroying rare plants: 8
Logging in "no-cut," riparian zones*: 29
Constructing fuel breaks in riparian zones*: 7
"Misclassifying" streams*: 23
Other illegal cutting*: 10
Other illegal operations along
streams, on landslides, etc: 14
Operating in saturated soil conditions: 19
Untreated erosion sites in riparian zones: 22
Road problems: 23
Stream crossings: 33
Misc. violations: 27
Total: 242
*All or most of these involve illegal cutting of trees that were supposed to be left standing.
