The ax cuts both ways

Re “If a tree’s owner falls ... ,” Opinion, Feb. 28

Which Times does Patt Morrison read? My L.A. Times reported three years ago that far from being the villain depicted by Morrison, financier Charles Hurwitz and his company, Maxxam Inc., were the victims of attempted extortion by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and its environmentalist allies. The FDIC filed a lawsuit against Hurwitz to force Maxxam to give the feds thousands of acres of old-growth redwoods without paying for them.

The federal court not only rejected the charges, it awarded Hurwitz $72 million to reimburse him for costs incurred in defending himself against the FDIC’s accusations, and it accused the feds of being extortionists who sought to use tools of the “Cosa Nostra.” Likewise, an administrative law judge rejected a similar claim against Hurwitz brought by the federal Office of Thrift Supervision. Morrison is entitled to her opinion, but aren’t Times readers entitled to the complete story, even in opinion columns?

Gideon Kanner

Burbank

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As heinous as Hurwitz’s liquidation logging is, he is not the only lumber baron we’ve contended with in California. Like Hurwitz, Sierra Pacific Industries head A.A. “Red” Emmerson is pursuing a profitable yet environmentally destructive clear-cutting and plantation conversion. These forests affect us in important ways. They are the state’s lungs and absorb the carbon we emit. They deserve better stewardship.

Joshua Buswell-Charkow

San Francisco

The writer is associated with ForestEthics.