Introduction

In August of 2007, I had the opportunity to attend a clearing cutting tour in Calaveras County.  The tour was organized by Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch and run by volunteer Bruce Castle.  Since them I have become interested in their organizing work and plan to summarize their work here. 

Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI)

taken from Forest Issues Group FIG

Sierra Pacific Industries, one of the largest timber companies in the U.S. and the second largest private landowner ranked 155 on the Forbes 500 list of private companies in the U.S in 1999. Sierra Pacific Industries currently owns 1,504,481 acres of land, all of which is located in California north of Yosemite National Park. In 2001 SPI was largest purchaser of federal timber nationwide and every year is among the top purchasers.

In recent years, Sierra Pacific has increased the number of acres that it clear-cuts. Tian-Ting Shih of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) calculates that from 1992 to 1999, the acres that SPI clear-cut increased from 943 to 23,823, a 2,246% increase. From 1982 to 1999, SPI clear-cut about 70,000 acres.

The state's largest timber company is shifting its logging practices from selective thinning of forestland to clearcutting using a technique called "visual retention" on 70 percent of its 1.5 million acres, about 3.7 percent of forestland in California. Variable retention is a harvesting technique that can use either dispersed or grouped tree retention with the clearcut size under grouped retention and the amount of retained trees under dispersed retention dependent upon unit size. Under group retention there will be units or areas of bare ground larger than the current 20-40 acres of clearcuts allowed under the Forest Practice Rules.

Today, Sierra Pacific Industries obtains about half of the timber for its mills from its own private industrial timberlands. However, SPI continues to buy federal timber to supplement these sources. In 1985, SPI obtained 88% of its raw materials from National Forests. Because SPI is so big and has so much cash, it has long been able to outbid other companies for federal timber. SPI need not make a large profit on federal timber, but just enough to invest in development of timber resources on its own land. Meanwhile, as the SPI practice of overbidding deprives smaller companies of timber, the competition goes out of business. Some environmentalists would argue that the artificially low prices of federal timber actually allow larger companies like SPI to gain an advantage over smaller companies. 

In a recent press release, Rainforest Action Network included Sierra Pacific Industries among the "Dirty Dozen" of top loggers of U.S. national forests, the largest importers and distributors of endangered, old growth forest products, the worst converters of native forests to monocultural plantations, and the leading manufacturers of non-recycled, virgin tree paper.

Local groups in the Sierra, such as Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch, Lassen Forest Preservation Group and the Forest Issues Group, continue to monitor SPI Timber Harvest Plans and Forest Service projects, and their cumulative impact on important watersheds of the Sierra.

Legal History of Forestry Practices in California

But for whom does this bell toll?

Forestry practices in California are primarily regulated by the Z’berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 (the Act) These laws are enforced by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF).  This section introduces the relavant statutes and case law in California and the role of CDF has played in enforcing these laws.


Statutory History

Intent
The Z’berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 is the principal regulatory statute for California forestry.  The intent of the legislation is to assure that:

    (a) Where feasible, the productivity of timberlands is restored, enhanced, and maintained.
    (b) The goal of maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products is achieved while giving consideration to values relating to recreation, watershed, wildlife, range and forage, fisheries, regional economic vitality, employment, and aesthetic enjoyment.[include Bluebook cite].

A plain meaning interpretation of the statute instills little confidence that California's forest will be maintained for posterity.  Here, the legislation not only limits its intent to assure the long-term maintenance of forests for productivity reasons, but only assures the maintenance when feasible.  In addition, the intent is conflicting with the main principle of sustainability because the goal is maximum protection of timber products with consideration for environmental values as a peripheral objective. 

Timber Harvesting

No timber operations can be conducted without submitting a timber harvesting plan to the CDF[include cite].



Application

How has this statute been applied?




Common Law History



Here will follow a legal history of SPI?  Are they the good corporate neighbor they claim to be?

California Ownership


Clearcutting in Calaveras County