The Root of the Problem at Pacific Lumber Co.
Re “A Titan of Logging Threatens to Topple,” Feb. 21: The current distress of Pacific Lumber Co. has nothing whatsoever to do with “environmental regulations,” reasonable or otherwise. The family-owned and -operated company that logged on a sustainable basis, and that practiced reasonable forestry, is no more.
The company went public and was bought by an irresponsible individual who began “tree-mining” of old-growth redwoods, at an unsustainable rate, to enrich himself and pay the interest on the junk bonds used for the purchase. One of the unfortunate weaknesses of our vaunted “ownership society” is that there is no apparent remedy for this kind of untrammeled rapacity.
Paul R. Cooley
Culver City
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