REDWOOD GROVES SPARED AX IN LAND-SWAP DEAL.Byline: John H. Cushman Jr. The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Federal and state negotiators reached a tentative agreement Saturday with a timber company to avert logging on thousands of acres of ancient redwood forests in the northwestern corner of California, in exchange for other land and cash totaling $380 million. The deal, brokered by Sen. Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. She is a member of the Democratic Party. , D-Calif., followed weeks of talks with Maxxam Corp. and its Pacific Lumber Co. subsidiary, which owns the Headwaters Forest The Headwaters forest is a series of old growth redwood groves measuring about 60,000 acres (240 km²). Located in the northern region of the U.S. state of California, most of it is owned by timber company PalCo, which is owned by Charles Hurwitz and Maxxam Inc. , containing the biggest stands of redwoods still in private hands. The land, which contains coho salmon Coho salmon oncorhynchuskisutch. , marbled murrelets and other species, could have been logged by the company under California regulations, sparking protests in which hundreds of environmentalists have been arrested. Under the agreement announced Saturday, two redwood groves of about 3,500 acres will be combined with adjacent forest to make a 7,500-acre preserve to be acquired by the federal government and the state. Logging on other company land will be governed by a new habitat conservation To conserve habitat life for wild species and prevent their extinction or reduction in range is a priority of a great many groups that cannot be easily characterized in terms of any one ideology. plan to be worked out by the company, the state, the federal government and other landowners over the next 10 months. Much of the federal and state-owned property to be exchanged for the protected groves has not yet been identified, although government agencies have agreed to buy 9,000 acres of forest land from another private owner and transfer it to Maxxam. Any cash payments by the federal or state governments would have to be approved by lawmakers in Washington and Sacramento. The negotiators said that the company would not be relieved of any potential liabilities to federal banking agencies under litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. relating to the failure of insolvent financial institutions. |
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