House Passes Bill Protecting Timberland

The House on Wednesday passed a forest-protection bill authorizing the federal government to acquire 44,000 acres of timberland in Humboldt County for inclusion in the existing Six Rivers National Forest.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Dan Hamburg (D-Ukiah), would also protect 3,200 acres of old-growth redwoods known as the Headwaters Forest and would require study of an additional 14,000 acres for possible acquisition.

“People just don’t want to see these (redwoods) cut down for deck furniture,” he said.

The bill, the Headlands Forest Act, passed 288 to 133 and now heads to the Senate.

Hamburg said that a companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and that he has contacted the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee about prospects for Senate passage this year.

“We’re hopeful,” he said Wednesday. “If we can attach it to some moving legislation, it’s still possible.”

Most of the land in question is owned by Pacific Lumber Co., which was acquired in a hostile takeover by MAXXAM Inc. in 1985. To pay off considerable debt, Pacific Lumber accelerated its logging practices, clear-cutting lands where it previously had harvested trees selectively.

The bill authorizes the Agriculture Department to acquire the 44,000 acres through land exchanges, donations and purchases.

The acquisition of land under the bill would be phased in, and about 90% of the acreage would be available for timber harvest, Hamburg said.