Money News: - Bank of America and Redwood Forest Foundation Announce Nation's First Private Capital Forest Acquisition by Nonprofit - AOL Money & Finance:

"This transaction will stop the forest's fragmentation while also allowing the property's coastal redwood trees to grow and be managed as a working sustainable forest. The foundation will purchase the acreage from Hawthorne Timber Company using $65 million in flexible long-term financing from Bank of America. This unique structure provides a national model for nonprofit ownership of a forest, and enables local environmentalists and timber companies to implement sustainable timber practices that sustains jobs and tax base while protecting critical ecological areas. The transaction also provides a return on investment for Bank of America. "

Schwarzenegger to defend North Coast redwoods Associated Press SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration pledged to fight any attempt to ease protections for old coastal redwoods that could be threatened by a timber company's bankruptcy filing. Pacific Lumber Co., a subsidiary of Houston-based Maxxam Corp., sought bankruptcy protection in Texas earlier this month, saying it could no longer make a profit because of logging restrictions on its 200,000 acres of timberlands in Humboldt County. The Scotia-based company blamed state water regulations, separate from the logging rules it agreed to in 1999 as part of a "habitat conservation plan" to protect endangered species. Pacific Lumber accepted the 50-year conservation plan as part of an agreement to sell 7,400 acres of old-growth redwoods to the state and federal governments for $480 million. That land is now the Headwaters Forest Reserve. Mike Chrisman, secretary of the state Resources Agency, said the state will fight any legal effort to end or amend the habitat plan. "We intend to be dogged and unyielding in our efforts to protect California's interests and hold (Pacific Lumber) to all of its obligations," Chrisman said Friday in a letter to Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland. Pacific Lumber spokeswoman Andrea Arnot said the company has not asked the bankruptcy court to change the Headwaters agreement. She wouldn't speculate if the company will make such a request. Former state Sen. Byron Sher, D-Palo Alto, said the redwoods agreement was attached to the deeds of Pacific Lumber's land to make sure that any new owners would be bound to the same rules. "Anyone who owns these 200,000 acres would be subject to it," Sher said. Sierra Club spokesman Paul Mason welcomed the administration's pledge. "Taxpayers made a significant investment in these environmental protections," Mason said, "so it's very welcome to see the state will be taking all possible steps to ensure those commitments are honored." Schwarzenegger to defend North Coast redwoods Associated Press

By Jane Braxton Little - Bee Correspondent

Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, April 7, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B3
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SUSANVILLE -- Officials in three Northern California counties have postponed action on requests from Sierra Pacific Industries to have nearly 20,000 acres of forests rezoned to designations that eventually could allow residential development.

Land-use planners in Lassen, Plumas and Shasta counties are studying the proposed zoning changes to determine the extent of environmental impacts and what level of review the requests require. No decisions are expected for at least a month.

The delays are disappointing but understandable, said Ed Bond, a spokesman for the timber company based in the Shasta County city of Anderson. "We'd like things to move along, but we want to make sure everybody's satisfied."


Sierra Pacific's 1.6 million acres in California make it one of the largest private landowners in the nation. Most of its acreage is zoned for timber production, which prohibits development and offers property-tax reductions in exchange for a 10-year commitment to grow trees.

The company hopes to get restrictions lifted on a total of 23,549 acres in Northern California -- nearly 37 square miles. The zoning requests signal its plan not to renew its 10-year commitment to timber production on those lands and to launch development projects.

New zoning could allow both commercial centers and residential housing on lands historically managed as forests.
The rezoning is part of a long-term process that would give counties more control over their land, said Bond. "This is one segment of a larger project."

Trinity County officials already rezoned 3,620 acres, much of it in the Trinity Lake area. Sierra Pacific originally requested zoning for parcels as small as 1 acre, said county planner Jeanne Bonomini. But planning commissioners changed the zoning from timber production to open space, which does not allow for development.

In Lassen County, the land Sierra Pacific wants rezoned for potential development includes 638 acres at Silver Lake adjoining Caribou Wilderness Area and 1,700 acres next to Mountain Meadows, a wetland that hosts eight threatened or endangered species. Two additional parcels are at the south end of Eagle Lake and west of Susanville near Lake Forest Estates.

At a public hearing last month, company officials told Lassen County supervisors that, for all but the Silver Lake property, the rezoning question is exempt from environmental review. When Lassen County Counsel Craig Settlemire disagreed, the supervisors sent the proposal back to county planners for additional review.

Shasta County officials continued a public hearing to June to get more information about how many residences could result from rezoning 6,443 acres, said associate county planner Lio Salazar. He estimated 55 new residences if the changes are approved.

Plumas County officials are waiting for additional information from Sierra Pacific to determine the effects of rezoning 7,826 acres near Chester and north of Lake Almanor, said Planning Director Jonathan Schnal. They expect to do a full environmental review, he said.

Schnal is concerned about the regional impact of converting 37 square miles of timberland to development. Because forests are a significant resource to California, state regulations may require planners in all affected counties to consider the cumulative effects of rezoning, he said.