$72million outrage

[nosmokes]

the quick version is that hurwitz with his junk bonds and S&L 'cash' from texas bought out pacific lumber in northern california and proceded toclearcut redwood forests because that was the only way to stay one step ahead of the creditors. there was no way that what he was doing was sustainable, and eventually even sizable number of tree fallers and mill workers recognized this. the man was literally destroying the last sizable portion of coastal redwoods left on the planet. you might recall julia butterfly hill that tree sat for over a year to keep maxxam and hurwitz from clearcutting the headwaters section. i can't speak for the last couple of years, but palco- pacific lumber- routinely was cited for hundreds of violations of california forestry regs each year after purchase by maxxam/hurwitz. if there's not some sort of quidpro quo between judge hughes and hurwitz i'll eat my hat. the man's a crook, a thief and a liar, and those are his better character traits.
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original

Government Must Pay in Ploy for Redwoods

U.S. owes $72 million for 'baseless' actions meant to force a financier to give up forestland.
By Tim Reiterman and E. Scott Reckard
Times Staff Writers

August 25, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO — A judge in Houston has ordered the federal government to pay $72 million to a company controlled by financier Charles Hurwitz, after concluding that federal banking officials had filed baseless legal actions against Hurwitz at the behest of California environmentalists.
Likening the government's conduct to that of a "cosa nostra," U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes said Tuesday that regulators had a hidden political agenda when they sued Hurwitz and Maxxam Inc. a decade ago over the failure of a Texas thrift.
The judge said the move was designed to force Hurwitz into giving up thousands of acres of California redwoods owned by Pacific Lumber Co., which Maxxam had acquired in a takeover.
Hurwitz was under fire because Pacific Lumber had been cutting old-growth redwoods at an accelerated rate in Humboldt County along the state's North Coast. Environmental groups urged some politicians and the Clinton administration to push for a lawsuit by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that would set in motion a "debt for nature" deal.
Their hope was that the federal government would win a judgment large enough to pressure Hurwitz into turning the redwood forest over to the federal government.
In 1995, the FDIC filed suit and the Office of Thrift Supervision took an administrative action that blamed Hurwitz for the failure of United Savings Assn. of Texas. Together the agencies sought more than $1 billion.
But an administrative judge recommended dismissal of the charges in the thrift supervision case in 2001, and the next year the agency agreed to settle for $206,000.
In the meantime, the state and federal governments had made a $480-million deal for 7,500 acres of Pacific Lumber's oldest redwoods to create the new Headwaters Preserve.
Although the FDIC moved to drop its lawsuit, Hurwitz and Maxxam pursued a counterclaim to recoup legal costs.
"They will recover their costs because the record reveals corrupt individuals within a corrupt agency with corrupt influences on it," Judge Hughes ruled Tuesday.
In a statement, Hurwitz said, "I … feel redeemed. This ruling puts to rest a very long process of defending ourselves against a government agency's erroneous claims."
But the FDIC said it would appeal Hughes' ruling, predicting that the agency would ultimately prevail.
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complete article @link
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Reiterman reported from San Francisco and Reckard from Washington, D.C.