Pacific Lumber Company

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The Pacific Lumber Company or PALCO, owned by Maxxam Inc, is a logging company from northwestern California. While their main function is still logging, they have expanded operations to include custom milling and treating. The company started in 1863 and now employs over 350 people. It is headquartered in Scotia, California, a company town. The company, itself, is a tourist attraction which welcomes visitors for a tour of certain areas of the facility. Palco filed for bankruptcy in January 2007.

[edit] Environmental concerns

While the company operates in 220,000 acres (890 km²) of logging sites it has set aside almost half to study implications to the natural environment. The company has set aside 6,000 acres (24 km²) of mostly old growth redwoods to save the marbled murrelet, spotted owl and other old growth dwellers. The company operates buffer zones around rivers to prevent erosion and maintain animal habitats. This programme has been severely criticized as being a PR-oriented effort that neglects science in seeking regulatory clearance for the short-term economic goals of Pacific Lumber.

Pacific Lumber has a record that includes falsifying evidence to a federal court, dozens of criminal citations, and hundreds of violations of the Forest Practice Rules. In 1998, PALCO became the first logging company to lose its license to log in California due to the number and serious nature of its violations.

In 1999 PALCO agreed to American activist Julia Butterfly Hill's requests to create a 3 acre buffer zone around a 600 year old growth redwood named Luna in exchange for leaving the tree, as she had been living in it for just over two years.

[edit] The Palco Recreation Center

Nestled among the redwood trees in Scotia is the Palco Recreation Center. The Rec Center employs about 8 people. Employees attend gala events throughout the town and run a child-oriented Summer Fun program.