New York Times Paid Advertisement and Mendocino Redwood Company Response

November 20th 2000

The New York Times, Monday, November 20, 2000 Mendocino Redwood Company response to content in this advertisement is shown in italics to the right of the New York Times advertisement text. Ad headline: You'd think a California family that controls Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy would buy redwood forests to protect them, not destroy them.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: (Caption under photograph) The Fisher family is destroying the last of the best remaining wildlife habitat in Mendocino/Sonoma redwood forests. Cuts like this could doom already endangered coho salmon and steelhead trout. What would you do with $12.5 billion? Two years ago, San Francisco's Fisher family, founders and major shareholders of clothing colossus Gap Inc., bought 350 square miles of heavily logged forest in Mendocino and Sonoma for $1,000 an acre. The $240 million price tag is less than two percent of their net worth, according to Forbes's list of the wealthiest Americans.	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* The picture shown is of a traditional clear cut harvest, and this is exactly the type of harvesting Mendocino Redwood Company (MRC) eliminated when we committed to end traditional clear cutting on our forest starting in November, 1998. This specific picture is of an area that was harvested in 1997 and 1998 by the prior owner, before Mendocino Redwood Company was formed or purchased the forestlands.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: So you'd expect them to take a handsome tax deduction and conserve the habitat in this severely depleted forest for endangered species like coho salmon, steelhead trout, marbled murrelets and northern spotted owls.	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* In an interview with Ted Williams for Fly Rod and Reel magazine, Mary Pjerrou (President of the Greenwood Watershed Association and apparently one of the sponsors of the ad that appeared in the New York Times) stated "I think they should set them [MRC's forestlands] all aside and invest money in restoration work, particularly to employ out-of-work fishermen and timber workers. I don't think they should cut anymore..... They could do this." We have a different objective for the future of the lands held by MRC. We are working to demonstrate that it is possible to manage these productive forestlands with a high standard of environmental stewardship (which for us literally means over time to leave the lands better than we found them) and to operate as a successful business at the same time. We are operating with these two competing objectives on equal footing. This will allow our success to serve as a duplicable model, and therefore have an impact that is far greater than just improving the health of the 232,000 acres that we manage. In November 2000, the restoration and logging activities of MRC were certified as being environmentally responsible by SmartWood (Institute for Sustainable Forestry), and Scientific Certification Systems, independent third party certifiers for the Forest Stewardship Council. The criteria for Forest Stewardship Council certification is supported by wide coalition of environmental organizations including the World Wildlife Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, The Wilderness Society, Greenpeace and others. A variety of documents have been made publicly available which show the specific measures that are being utilized in MRC's restoration activities. These include the Mendocino Redwood Company Management Plan, Policies and Targets, and the two certification reports. These can be found on our Web Site at www.mrc.com
Text of New York Times Advertisement: Instead, the Fisher's Mendocino Redwood Company has been leveling forest like there's no tomorrow. It's called "liquidation logging."	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* The facts are these: MRC is harvesting at about 60% of the growth rate of the forest, so each year there is more volume of trees standing in the forest. Our long-term management plan (which is available at www.mrc.com/mgmtplan.pdf) shows a doubling of our standing volume of trees by between 2050 and 2060. MRC is developing and implementing landscape monitoring to ensure other metrics of "sustainability" and forest improvement such as tree size and habitat distribution are also on the rise.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: Clearcut gaps in redwood forests The Fishers' company aims to squeeze over 40 million board feet of timber a year out of forests already overlogged by previous owner, Louisiana-Pacific. That's at least twice as much cutting as independent forestry experts consider "sustainable" on these lands.	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* MRC reduced the harvest rate on these lands by 30% relative to the long tem regulatory plans of the previous owner. MRC is harvesting at about 60% of the growth rate of the forest, so each year there is more volume of trees standing in the forest. Our long term management plan (which is available at www.mrc.com/mgmtplan.pdf) shows a doubling of our standing volume of trees by between 2050 and 2060.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: A former head of California's Department of Forestry observed that Louisiana-Pacific "cut themselves out of business" before the sale, but that the Fishers had a fine investment-- if they only showed "patience."	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* In response to this ad, Richard Wilson (the retired Director of the California Department of Forestry) stated " the quote was unauthorized and taken out of context." He further stated "People working together with forward thinking companies like Mendocino Redwood Company is what will save the redwood forest." You can see the full text of Richard Wilson's letter responding to this ad at www.mrc.com/Letters/Letters59.html.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: Patience? Not only haven't they canceled any of the 104 deforestation plans Louisiana-Pacific filed with the state before the sale, the Fishers have filed over 100 new logging plans of their own since 1998.	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* When MRC took over from Louisiana Pacific (L-P) in June of 1998, there were 106 open timber harvest plans (THPs) transferred to MRC. It is important to note that "open" plans, per definition from the California Department of Forestry, include plans that may have completed harvesting operations but not all the post-harvest obligations, such as planting, set forth in the California Forest Practice Rules. MRC conducted an audit in June 1999 and found that of the 106 THPs transferred to MRC, 34 were still active. The number has since declined to 5 active THPs as of today. Since early 1999, the L-P plans were changed to reflect MRC operating policies that include stronger protections for wildlife and fisheries habitats. MRC has been filing new harvest plans since starting in business. These plans: have eliminated traditional clear cutting, are transitioning the forest to selection style management for the long term, and are facilitating restoration of the redwood and Douglas-fir forest by managing areas that have a high amount of Tanoak (a competitor to the restoration of the redwood and Douglas-fir forest).
Text of New York Times Advertisement: Department of Forestry documents reveal that, in the Fisher plans, 75 percent more forest will hear the roar of the chainsaws.	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* MRC has been harvesting on about 6,000 to 8,000 acres per year. In healthy redwood-dominated stands, MRC uses uneven-age management techniques (i.e., single tree and group selection). Typically these stands retain 60% to 80% of the pre-harvest stocking. In stands dominated by Tanoak, MRC uses modified forms of even-age management called partial clearing or "variable retention" harvesting. This leaves 10-40% of the stand (a mix of redwood, Douglas-fir, and Tanoak) intact, while creating a sufficient opportunity to plant and regenerate redwoods and Douglas-firs. While the total acres harvested may represent an increase in the amount of acres harvested in recent years, it is a consequence of MRC's transition to uneven-age management which removes significantly less volume of trees per acre than the clearcutting practices of our predecessors.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: Further over half the plans use clearcutting and toxic herbicides, just like Louisiana-Pacific did.	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* MRC eliminated traditional clearcutting in the fall of 1998, and MRC's use of herbicides is made on a plant by plant basis with the specific objective of restoring the redwood and Douglas-fir forest. MRC is systematically evaluating non-herbicide alternatives to achieving the same objective of restoring the redwood and Douglas-fir forest. In conjunction with FSC certification, MRC is committing to the reduction of 60% of its herbicide use over the next four years.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: Old Navy or Old Growth?	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* As far as we know, MRC has a more comprehensive old growth protection policy than any other large industrial forestland owner. MRC has identified approximately 130 acres of 14 distinct "never-harvested" (FSC Type I) old growth stands. These acres will be permanently protected by MRC from any kind of harvesting. MRC has approximately 1,250 acres of previously harvested (FSC Type II) old growth stands where significant old growth characteristics are still present. The residual old growth trees and late successional characteristics of these stands are protected and only silviculture, such as thinning from below, is allowed to enhance or extend these stands. The remaining previously logged second growth forests on MRC lands contain some scattered residual old growth trees in very low densities. These old trees are being preserved based on a policy that protects them by age, size, function and characteristics specific to particular species. Trees preserved from harvesting include: Any redwood tree, 48" dbh and larger, established prior to 1800. Any Douglas-fir tree, 36" dbh and larger, established prior to 1800. Any tree established prior to 1800 (conifer or hardwood), regardless of diameter size, with a preponderance of species-specific Old Growth characteristics. Any tree (conifer or hardwood), established before 1800, that cannot be replaced in size and ecological function within 80-130 years, regardless of diameter or presence of Old Growth characteristics.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: Worse, the Fishers are specifically attacking the most important natural habitat in a handful of watersheds--the last three percent of their holdings with larger redwoods and Douglas firs capable of supporting the richest, most mature ecosystem. The fact is, L-P didn't leave much harvestable timber behind. (Another buyer got the richest tract, according an L-P forester quoted in the Wall Street Journal.) But instead of cutting their losses, the Fishers are cutting everything worth preserving or restoring.	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* The facts are that MRC has a total conifer (redwood and Douglas-fir) inventory of 2.4 Billion board feet, of which 1.1 Billion board feet are found in trees with greater than 24" diameter. MRC spreads its harvest across its holdings, to make sure that no one area is harvested too heavily. MRC manages its better -stocked redwood and Douglas-fir stands using selection and group selection silviculture, always leaving a well-stocked forest following harvest. Regardless, MRC is harvesting in such a manner to improve the distribution of larger trees, especially redwood, across the landscape. MRC's overall harvest rate will insure that the total volume of timber on MRC's lands will double by between 2050 and 2060.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: They're logging without a Sustained Yield Plan, vital for these damaged watersheds. They "overlook" nesting owls and pools of native salmon.	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* When we started in business all the local activists urged us to abandon Louisiana Pacific's Sustained Yield Plan (SYP), and we did. Early on we committed that we would provide a long-term plan that was easier to understand and reflected a lower rate of harvest. Our current Management Plan and our regulatory document called an "Option A" do both and contain substantial additional protections for the health of the forest. The Option A was created with significant agency and public input. The Management Plan contains additional detail about our policies, and also explains our long term landscape planning approach (also available on our Web Site www.mrc.com). MRC's has a healthy and substantial population of spotted owls (109 sites on our property, 2.5 time the number of sites per acre as the much better stocked Jackson Demonstration State Forest located next to us). Since starting in business just 25 months ago, MRC has been involved in over 15 large, collaborative restoration projects unrelated to harvest plans or general road improvement activities. Collaborative partners include Trout Unlimited, Mendocino Fisheries Program, California Department of Fish & Game, Mendocino County Resource Conservation District, and others. Streams that have been the focus of this work include portions of the Navarro, Big River, Hollow Tree, Noyo, Garcia, and Albion River systems. Many of the original projects focused on instream habitat improvements. Current projects have expanded that scope to include a significant amount of upslope road assessment and improvement work. The numbers and types of projects will increase in the years to come.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: They've speeded up "winter operations" that can multiply mudslides and choke streams.	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* MRC has dramatically reduced winter operations relative to the prior owner of its lands. In the 1999/2000 winter season, running from November 1999 to March 30, 2000, MRC harvested just 3% of its annual harvest.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: They even threaten a small town's water supply by clearcutting the steepest slopes.	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* The fact is that MRC eliminated traditional clearcutting before the end of 1998. By publicly stated policy, MRC also does not allow logging that retains less than 50% of the standing trees on slopes that have moderate or higher erosion potential without thorough review from certified engineering geologists.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: Their own banana republic? Like other big timber operators, the Fishers' plans are being rubber-stamped by Gov. Gray Davis's California Dept. of Forestry (see coupon below). The Fisher family and its associates have handed out over $300,000 in political contributions, in the last 5 years, and $12.5 billion hires a lot of lawyer muscle.	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* Forestry is a highly regulated activity in California, and MRC's activities are closely monitored, controlled and restricted by a collection of government agencies, including the California Department of Forestry, the California Department of Fish and Game, the California Department of Mines and Geology, the California North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. In addition, because we disclose significant information about each timber harvest plan, many others observe, participate, comment and critique what we do.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: At the same time, of course, the Fishers' logging company paints itself "green" in PR handouts. They claim to improve forest by cutting 90 percent of it down. Even when local citizen groups win in court, the Fishers refile the same illegal logging plans, forcing costly apparently endless legal battles.	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* We invite people who are interested to come and see for themselves. MRC's variable retention harvests leave valuable structure in the woods. The facts on the ground clearly show a different picture than the allegation cited here.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: They also solemnly promise not to fell any ancient giants, except if they're "not important" to wildlife.	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* We believe that old growth trees are a valuable, irreplaceable component of our forestland. As far as we know, MRC has a more comprehensive old growth protection policy than any other large industrial forestland owner. MRC has identified approximately 130 acres of 14 distinct "never-harvested" (FSC Type I) old growth stands. These acres will be permanently protected by MRC from any kind of harvesting. MRC has approximately 1,250 acres of previously harvested (FSC Type II) old growth stands where significant old growth characteristics are still present. The residual old growth trees and late successional characteristics of these stands are protected and only silviculture, such as thinning from below, is allowed to enhance or extend these stands. The remaining previously logged second growth forests on MRC lands are contain some scattered residual old growth trees in very low densities. These old trees are being preserved based on a policy that protects them by age, size, function and characteristics specific to particular species. Trees preserved from harvesting include: Any redwood tree, 48" dbh and larger, established prior to 1800. Any Douglas-fir tree, 36" dbh and larger, established prior to 1800. Any tree established prior to 1800 (conifer or hardwood), regardless of diameter size, with a preponderance of species-specific Old Growth characteristics. Any tree (conifer or hardwood), established before 1800, that cannot be replaced in size and ecological function within 80-130 years, regardless of diameter or presence of Old Growth characteristics.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: As owners, the Fishers have a choice. As a shopper, so do you. As part of its PR offensive, the Fishers' logging company is applying for a private "green label" on its wood products, suggesting that it manages forests sustainably. But qualifying for the label is a secret process, closed to the public. The evaluator is paid by the logging company. And guidelines permit clearcuts, old-growth logging, pesticides use and other destructive practices. How much is such certification really worth?	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* MRC's 232,000 acres of Northern California redwood and Douglas-fir forestlands received independent third party endorsement of its forestry practices from the Forest Stewardship Council in November 2000. The certification process for MRC was conducted by two independent groups, Smartwood (Institute for Sustainable Forestry) and Scientific Certification Systems. Both have substantial experience with the Forest Stewardship Council. The credentials of the people who are enforcing the standards are unassailable. MRC chose the Forest Stewardship Council standard because we believe, as do many others, it is the toughest standard available for management of forests on a commercial basis. Individuals wanting to learn more about the Forest Stewardship Council should visit www.fscus.org. This web site includes the supporters of the FSC. FSC certification involves significant input from the public. In fact, in the more than two year certification process, the certification teams consulted with well over 100 stakeholders, including local activists, neighbors, an assortment of regulators, local and national environmental groups and others. A summary of the certifiers findings is currently available on our Web Site (www.mrc.com/fsc_certification.html) and these summaries contain a frank discussion of MRC's strengths and weaknesses.
Text of New York Times Advertisement: Label or no label, will the Fishers help a struggling forest recover? Or will they scavenge it? Will they conserve and restore California's natural heritage? Or will they abuse it? Please help the Fisher Family make the better choice by mailing the coupons below. Thank you. Save the Redwoods/Boycott the Gap	*Facts about Mendocino Redwood Company:* The process of certification shows that these lands can be managed with a high standard of environmental stewardship and as a successful business. We are committed to being successful on the original premise we entered the business to achieve. It is crucial for the future of private forest land that lands like ours can be managed with the trust of the public; with the respect of our neighbors and employees; and moving beyond litigation, activism, and conflict.