Headwaters Forest Alliance

An interfaith alliance of religious activists—including Christians, Jews, and Buddhists—has joined other environmentalists in defense of the Headwaters Forest, a 60,000-acre redwood ecosystem east of Eureka in Northern California. The Headwaters Forest contains the last stand of unprotected old-growth redwoods and is considered crucial habitat for threatened species such as the coho salmon, marbled murrelet, and the spotted owl.



Since acquiring the Headwaters Forest in a 1986 junk-bond takeover of Pacific Lumber Co., Texas corporate raider Charles Hurwitz and his Maxxam Corp. have nearly tripled the rate of logging there, using the priceless ancient redwoods as bargaining chips while he negotiates with the federal government about protecting the land.



In October, the Clinton administration negotiated to give Hurwitz $380 million for nearly 6,000 acres of the region's most sensitive redwood groves and development a "habitat conservation plan" (HCP) for the rest of the land. However, the Headwaters Forest Coordinating Committee, a coalition of environmental groups working to defend the area, criticizes the deal, saying that the HCP "is actually a federal permit that allows Maxxam Corp. to kill endangered species on one part of their property in exchange for protecting habitat elsewhere."



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Sojourners Magazine January-February 1997
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