Insult to Injury
PL Attempts to Axe Fish and Wildlife Protections

April 1, 2004


In March, Maxxam/Pacific Lumber (PL) announced its plans to change its Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), seeking to eliminate the very provisions it has been violating all along. These changes would allow it to log even more than currently allowed - removing "no-cut" buffers on streams and landslides and lifting restrictions during the rainy and murrelet nesting seasons.

There is no scientific or legal basis for these changes, and in fact, the science and law show that fish and wildlife protections need to be drastically improved instead. Last year, a state court ruled that Maxxam/PL's logging is unsustainable, impairs salmon habitat, and threatens species like the marbled murrelet (EPIC v. Pacific Lumber). Additionally, an independent scientific review panel has released two separate reports that conclude PL's HCP is inadequate to protect our watersheds and salmon habitat.

Yet it's uncertain how state and federal agencies will respond to Maxxam/PL's request. The California Dept. of Forestry and Dept. of Fish and Game have thus far refused to turn over all but a handful of related documents, and as of press time, it appears EPIC will have to resort to litigation to force them to turn over the documents under the Public Records Act. Making matters more difficult, Maxxam/PL is seeking the changes under a process known as "adaptive management," which would effectively exclude the public input into this decision.

TAKE ACTION
EPIC is committed to seeing that Maxxam's proposed changes are never implemented, but it will take a loud chorus of citizens to stop them in their tracks. Please let your public officials know you are watching, and that you would like to see more--not less--protection for our forests and streams.

John Enbring
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
2800 Cottage Way, Room W-2605
Sacramento, CA 95825

Director Broddick
CA Dept. of Fish and Game
1416 Ninth Street
Sacramento, CA 94814


This article can be found online at www.wildcalifornia.org/publications/article-60