November 18, 2002
On August 29, 2002, the California Superior Court issued a ?stay? on all Pacific Lumber logging operations that are authorized under the infamous Headwaters Deal, finding the ruling necessary to ?serve the public interest?in careful management of natural resources such as forests, wildlife habitat, and wildlife.?
The ruling was issued in an ongoing case the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) and the Sierra Club brought against the Pacific Lumber Company, the California Department of Forestry (CDF), and the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) in March 1999. The lawsuit challenges state permits that were issued as part of the Headwaters Deal, including permits to kill numerous endangered species and a ?streambed alteration? agreement that applies to 210,000 acres of land.
The court?s ruling suspended all logging operations carried out under these permits, stating, ??no party to this proceeding shall take any action whose validity depends upon the validity of? the permits granted to Pacific Lumber until ?further order of the court.?
Pacific Lumber?s court filings show that the company has logged approximately 1 million board feet per day since the ?stay? order was issued, the equivalent of over 200 logging trucks every day. This includes hundreds of acres of ancient forest in the Mattole River area, as well as areas immediately adjacent to two tree-sitters in Freshwater Creek.
EPIC returned to court and asked the Superior Court judge to intervene and enforce the court order. On November 18, 2002, the Superior Court of California issued the following:
?IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Real Parties, Pacific Lumber Company, Scotia Pacific Company LLC, and Salmon Creek Corporation, shall appear before this Court on December 9, 2002, at 8:30 a.m., Superior Court, 825 Fifth Street, Eureka, and SHOW CAUSE why they should not be held in contempt of this Court and the Court?s orders of August 29 specifically for willfully conducting timber operations, with the meaning of Public Resource Code 4527, on the lands which are the subject of timber harvesting plans? .?
For more information, please contact: EPIC, PO Box 397, Garberville, CA 95542, 707/923-2931.
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TOC for Forest & River News, Fall 2002