Ancient redwood PL illegally cut during Thanksgiving Massacre Photo: Doug Thron

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. (read more)

The Bush Administration's attack on environmental laws and regulations is having serious "on-the-ground" consequences for ancient forests in Northwest California, where numerous timber sales are threatening such beloved areas as the Trinity Alps, Pacific Crest Trail, and Salmon River. This spring, EPIC's National Forest Program is launching a new project to lift the smokescreen covering these plans and is seeking citizen volunteers to help our staff investigate and show others what the Bush Administration has planned for our public lands. (read more)

A cloud of controversy suddenly lifted from the North Coast on March 17, when Calpine Corp. announced that it has given up on its plans to construct a massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility on Humboldt Bay. The surprise decision came the day after an unprecedented 1,500 people packed a Eureka City Council meeting, with the vast majority expressing emphatic opposition to the plan. (read more)

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. (read more)