137 



productive capability of the land and maintenance of adequate wildlife habitat." 

 Nevertheless, the proposed strengthening regulations were never adopted. 



According to figures provided in 1989 to the Forest Advisory Committee of the 

 Mendocino County Board of Supervisors by the state's forestry research program, 

 industry was cutting almost three times as much wood as their lands were growing in 

 Mendocino County. 



What about local fisheries which once supjxjrted a thriving industry? According 

 to an inventory prepared for the Department of Fish and Game, in 1965 surveyed 

 Mendocino County rivers supported 19,000 Coho salmon and 48,000 steelhead trout, 

 and they were concerned then because the numbers had dropped severely from previous 

 tallies. In 1991 those same streams supported only 800 Coho salmon and 2800 

 steelhead. Where did the fish go? In our county there are no major agricultural 

 diversions or huge hydroelectric dams to complicate the analysis. Logging is the 

 significant factor. Fish streams have been silted up with logging runoff and 

 overheated from lack of tree cover. 



I am currently involved with attempts to modify a timber harvest plan in Del 

 Norte County which the California Department of Forestry has approved over the 

 objections of the Department of Fish and Game. The Forestry department, in its 

 official response to public and agency comments, reasons that there is no need to 

 protect the last mature trees in this watershed because it's already been so cut over 

 there is no wildlife left to protect. 



In papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the MAXXAM 

 Corporation, owner of the Headwaters Forest area, the company provided a substantial 

 amount of data regarding their standing inventory and outlined its plan to liquidate the 

 mature trees on its own timberland in order to pay off the timber collateralized bonds it 

 issued as a result of Pacific Lumber's 1993 re-organization. I am not only speaking of 

 old growth trees but also of the 60 to 100 year old trees that make up the bulk of 

 MAXXAM 's holdings. Although each timber company has its own management style 

 it is clear that the necessity to pay off $385 million worth of timber collateralized notes 

 will make it imperative for MAXXAM to log substantially all of its existing 

 merchantable timber during the life of the bonds, the next 22 years. There is nothing 

 in current state logging rules to prevent that liquidation although environmental groups 

 are engaged in continuous rear-guard litigation to enforce state and federal laws which 

 should provide some protection if they were only properly implemented. 



According to public records available at the California Department of Forestry 

 and Fire Protection, within the 44,000 acre proposed Headwaters acquisition area, 

 MAXXAM has already logged a total of 23,348 acres since it acquired Pacific Lumber 

 in 1986. Of those totals, 3615 acres of virgin redwood, never before entered for 

 logging, were cut between 1986 and 1991. Litigation has since put virgin logging 

 plans in that area on hold. In addition, within the acquisition area MAXXAM logged 



