ConnectingCalifornia.org

-
Sierra Pacific Industries Settles Case, Withdraws Bid to "Upzone" 34,000 Acres of Forests in 6 Northern Calif. Counties

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/1660393.html

2-28-2009--Timber firm, Sierra Nevada environmental groups settle dispute

Two Sierra Nevada environmental groups have settled lawsuits challenging the rezoning of 12,541 acres of timberland owned by Sierra Pacific Industries, the largest private landowner in California…

Sierra and Lassen counties are among eight Northern California counties where the Anderson-based timber company had sought to remove a total of about 40,000 acres of its forests from timber production zoning. New zoning designations would start a 10-year countdown that would end the tax benefits Sierra Pacific has enjoyed under timberland production zoning, approved by the Legislature in 1976 to encourage long-term working forests.

After 10 years, the company could request new zoning designations that permit development.

With the settlements in Sierra and Lassen counties, only Tehama and Shasta counties have authorized the company's rezone requests on a combined 6,339 acres.

Sierra Pacific recently withdrew applications for rezoning 34,237 acres of timberlands in Butte, Lassen, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou and Trinity counties, said Mark Pawlicki, a company spokesman. The requests ranged from 7,826 acres in Plumas County to 2,537 acres in Tehama County.

Although it has no plans for development, the company is not abandoning zoning changes on some of its 1.7 million acres, Pawlicki said.

Instead of a piecemeal approach, company officials want to take a more comprehensive view that adheres to the legal processes required by state environmental laws, he said.

-----------------------

http://www.sierracounty.ws/county_docs/bos/050808%20BOS/mno05062008bosweb.pdf

County planning staff doesn’t think any development is foreseen for the thousands of acres of SPI’s forest lands that they are rezoning in Sierra County...