Most northern Californians are somewhat familiar with the Pacific Lumber, Maxaam, redwood cutting, Julia Butterfly Hill story. If final resistance — led by former Governor Pete Wilson!– can be settled it may come to a fairly happy ending.

The short story is that when the family owned, and community embedded, Pacific Lumber was bought by Charles Hurwitz and Maxaam in 1986 the source of the capital was organized by junk bond king Michael Milkin. In order to pay off the debt, Hurwitz pushed for voracious clear cutting of old-growth redwood, cranking up the output of the Scotia saw mill to 300 million board feet a year. As environmentalists and others began to get the facts out, resistance began to set in, highlighted by Butterfly Hill’s two year residency high in the old growth trees. Restrictions were clamped on the company and production began to fall off.

Thwarted from his clear cutting plans, Hurwitz couldn’t keep his financial ship afloat and had Pacific Lumber declare bankruptcy in 2007, not necessarily to rid himself of PL but to get the “onerous” environmental restrictions lifted so lumbering could begin apace. Out of the bankruptcy filing various other remedies appeared and it seems a good one is in the offing.

Friday the bankruptcy judge ruled that ownership of Pacific Lumber, which in turn owns the town of Scotia, and vast acreage of redwood trees, would be handed over to Mendocino Redwood Co, which is owned by Donald and Doris Fisher, the founders of The Gap.

Folks from Governor Schwarzenegger to Paul Mason of The Sierra Club, are hailing the decision –not that it’s perfect, but that it’s much much better than the past or an unknown future. Under good old Pete Wilson, former governor, some bond holders of the original debt are still threatening an appeal. If they can be satisfied, or turned back, the deal looks likely to go through.

Redwood Saga Ending

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