Maxxam's sordid history with Pacific Lumber - Times-Standard Online

So Maxxam Corp. is finally leaving Humboldt County. However, there will be no celebration accompanying the departure. That's because Maxxam accomplished what many warned would happen when corporate raider Charles Hurwitz first appeared -- he and his cronies drove the once-mighty Pacific Lumber into bankruptcy.

Before we continue the future, let's review the sordid history.

Humboldt residents remember that the Pacific Lumber Co. was once a great place to work. The local Murphy family owned the Pacific Lumber Co. for over 100 years. By all accounts, they treated workers pretty well, and it seemed like timber jobs would last forever.

That optimistic view was supported by the fact that the Murphy family operated their business according to a policy that today would be described as sustainable forestry. For the Murphy's, it was just smart business -- if they cut too much, they would be destroying their grandchildren's future.

So they cut at a reasonably modest rate. They certainly felled some of the ancient growth trees, but they left others.

That all changed in 1986 when Charles Hurwitz and Maxxam Corp. “acquired” the Pacific Lumber Co. in a hostile takeover. Maxxam Corp. was -- and still is -- notorious for taking over businesses, then aggressively “liquidating” their assets. (The story is especially poignant because the Murphys had actually intended to create the opportunity for their workers and the community to purchase

the timber operation).

In order to finance the $800 million debt incurred to finance the transaction (and enrich himself in the process), Hurwitz began an outrageous campaign of clear-cutting. The actions devastated the environment and provoked a series of landslides that caused homes to fall into rivers. They also clogged the rivers with so much silt and sediment that salmon populations are collapsing. And all done by filing allegedly fraudulent timber harvest plans to boot!

As if that is not egregious enough, Maxxam also plundered the workers' pension funds and mismanaged timber stocks so badly that today there's almost no ancient growth left.

Maxxam basically did the same thing to Kaiser Aluminum in Washington state, looting workers pension plans and driving that company into bankruptcy as well.

During the “timber wars” provoked by Maxxam, a most unfortunate question was repeated so often that it became a focal point for all discussions -- jobs or the environment? That false choice is still frequently used to ensure that no genuine dialogue ever takes place.

Like most generalizations, that false choice simply oversimplifies the very real and complicated issues that face our community. No one shouts “No new jobs!” No one chants “Destroy the environment!”

Finding true collaborative and innovative solutions can be difficult in this context. But a group consisting of private investors, timber workers, conservationists and community leaders came together to put forward a reorganization plan for Pacific Lumber that would have saved logging jobs, kept the Scotia mill operating and placed 12,000 acres of forest land in permanent protection.

The remaining redwood forests would have been logged using a permanent sustainable timber management plan.

This group called itself “the Community Forestry Team,” and included Humboldt County-based forestry, conservation and environmental advocates.

Their ambitious plan was modeled on previous successful partnerships that conserved huge tracts of forests while developing sustainable timber harvesting practices. Similar efforts have already protected land across the country, including 50,000 acres outside Fort Bragg, 161,000 acres in Adirondack Park in New York and 280,000 acres of forests spread across 11 southern states.

Sadly, this effort fell short during the bankruptcy maneuvers. Let's hope that the Mendocino Redwood Co. approaches Humboldt County with the sort of collaborative spirit that drove the Community Forest Team.

After all, we need good timber jobs. And we need a healthy environment. And here is another truism -- there are no good jobs on a dead planet.

David Cobb was the Green Party candidate for president in 2004 and currently works for Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County. He can be reached at david@duhc.org or 269-0984. He is also the host of “Thursday Night Talk,” which airs on KHSU 90.5 FM every Thursday at 7:30 p.m.