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p. A5 State closes in on deal to buy old-growth forests By Tyche Hendricks OF THE EXAMINER STAFF Tuesday, May 12, 1998 Budget surplus may save Headwaters With a windfall of unexpected revenue, Gov. Wilson has moved the state a step closer to buying and protecting 7,500 acres of old-growth redwood forest, including the Headwaters Grove, from Pacific Lumber Co. Wilson proposed Monday to use $130 million of a budget surplus generated by California's robust economy to purchase the forest from Texas financier Charles Hurwitz, owner of Pacific Lumber. Congress has already approved the $250 million federal share of the $380 million purchase price negotiated in 1996. In January, Wilson suggested the state's contribution be raised with a bond measure, but there was no guarantee voters would approve it. "This is a day to celebrate," said Jim Youngson, assistant secretary of the California Resources Agency. "It helps assure the Headwaters preservation in a much simpler fashion." The Headwaters money is part of more than $400 million in surplus funds that Wilson wants to direct to several natural resource protection projects, including state park maintenance, air and water quality protections and flood control projects. The Legislature must still approve the appropriation with a two-thirds vote as part of the regular budget process this summer. "With our economy performing at record levels and revenues exceeding expectations, we have an opportunity to invest in California's future," Wilson said. As part of the Headwaters deal, Hurwitz and the federal government must also agree on a habitat conservation plan to govern the use of Pacific Lumber's more than 200,000 acres in Humboldt County. Under the plan, four of five additional virgin groves remaining in Hurwitz's hands would be protected from logging for the next 50 years. But environmental groups are critical of the deal and said Wilson's announcement only moves endangered species, such as the marbled murrelet and coho salmon, a step closer to disaster. "It looks like the governor is preparing to write Hurwitz a blank check," said Kathy Bailey, forest conservation chair for the Sierra Club of California. "Right now the deal virtually assures that salmon will become extinct in coastal California." Bailey said the habitat conservation plan being negotiated doesn't adhere to federally recognized standards for protecting salmon spawning streams. For example, she said, the plan proposes 30-foot stream-side buffer zones, whereas federal standards call for 300-foot buffers. The Sierra Club met recently with state and federal regulators, Bailey said, and argued for more stringent environmental standards. "They appeared to recognize that we had some serious grievances," she said. "We're hoping they'll act on our concerns and make some improvements." Kevin Bundy, spokesman for the Environmental Protection Information Center in Garberville, Humboldt County, agreed that the conservation plan is inadequate, and complained that the public has been shut out of the negotiating process. "The governor is asking the legislature to fund something it can't even reveal," he said. "The habitat conservation plan has not been made available for public review." In addition, Bundy said, the Headwaters agreement is likely to set a precedent for future habitat conservation plans with other timber companies. "It's insufficient to protect endangered species, but it's going to become the rule," he said. "Our position has always been to advocate for the integrity of the ecosystem. From that perspective, we can't support this deal." Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who helped negotiate the Headwaters deal, issued a strong statement Monday encouraging state legislators to vote for the $130 million appropriation. "Those who want to use the state's funding to force a renegotiation of the proposed federal habitat conservation plan should be aware that voting against funding the state's portion of the Headwaters agreement will effectively kill the entire effort to save Headwaters," she said. Assemblywoman Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, said she wouldn't vote against the budget to protest the Headwaters deal, even though she had lobbied Deputy Interior Secretary John Garamendi in March to strengthen the conservation provisions. "Some of us would have prefered more protections, but politics is a process of compromise," Migden said. "I think ultimately it will be a good deal and a good thing for California." ©1998 San Francisco Examiner
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