Press Release – Mendocino Commentary, April 2, 1987
The Save the Loggers League, which first appeared in the news at the December 2 rally at the gates of the Pacific lumber Mill in Scotia, California, has announced that it had sent a mass mailing to Post Office boxes in towns with heavy woodworker populations, including Scotia and Carlotta.
The purpose of the newsletter is to educate wood-workers as to the Maxxam corporate takeover of Pacific Lumber which the Save the Loggers League feels will be devastating to the economy and ecology of Humboldt County. That takeover is currently being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the Ivan Boesky scandal.
“Woodworkers are getting only one side of the story from their timber bosses, who tell them that environmentalists are the bad guys and that the rich corporations are here to, help them,” said an STLL spokesperson.
“But even if a logger or mill worker wanted to take action to regain local control of Pacific lumber or similar type companies, they wouldn’t know where to begin. That’s where the Save the Loggers League comes in.”
The Save the loggers league Bulletin features a Paul Bunyan story; only this time there are no trees left for Paul to cut, and he is not pleased. There is an Audubon-style field guide to a new endangered species, “The Scotia logger,” which tells of an outside predator, the Greenbacked Hurwitz, which is destroying their habitat. Charles Hurwitz is the Chairman of the Board of the Maxxam Corporation.
Self-condemning quotes from the Maxxam/PL prospectus are featured as well. A fundraising insert is included so that woodworkers can contribute to work for better timber practices without jeopardizing their jobs by taking direct action.
A STLL spokesperson put it this Way: “No matter how active the environmentalists become, the key to success on the Maxxam issue rests with the woodworkers. If they don’t believe they need help there’s little anyone can do for them.”
Environmentalists have stated they’d like Pacific lumber to return to its previous sustained yield policy, now abandoned.