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| Voice of the Environment's mission is to educate the public regarding the transfer of public trust assets into private, mostly corporate, hands. | ||
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Ukiah office: 1330 Boonville Rd Ukiah, CA 95482 707-467-0329 |
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Marin office: 270 Beach Rd Belvedere, CA 94920 415-435-2007 |
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| For two decades, Voice of the Environment has stood up for the people and our communities against the avarice of corporations and the misguided policies of the corporate-dominated state. |
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Print This Article Friday, August 26th, 2005 Hamburg backed Hurwitz suit Mike Geniella/Press Democrat (Santa Rosa) UKIAH - Former Rep. Dan Hamburg said Thursday that while he was in office, he encouraged a federal agency to sue a Texas tycoon as a way to pressure him into giving up what was then the world's largest privately owned stand of ancient redwoods. The so-called "debt-for-nature" strategy resulted this week in a $72 million judgment against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on behalf of Charles Hurwitz, the Texas financier who acquired Pacific Lumber Co. in 1986 and dramatically increased the company's cutting of redwoods. Among the company's holdings was the Headwaters Forest in Humboldt County, which became an environmental cause in the 1990s. Hamburg said Thursday that he felt it was his responsibility to do whatever he could to make sure Headwaters Forest was preserved. "My job was to protect those redwoods," he said. He denied, however, a Texas judge's assertions that he, the Clinton administration and environmental groups attempted to "extort" Hurwitz into giving up the trees to avoid damages stemming from the businessman's alleged involvement in the failure of a Texas savings and loan. "Hurwitz is one of the greatest extortionists of all times. Accusing the government of trying to extort him is beyond comprehension," Hamburg said. U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Hughes, the senior federal judge in Houston, on Tuesday awarded Hurwitz $72 million for actions by the FDIC that he called "arbitrary and dishonest." Hughes concluded that the agency filed baseless lawsuits against Hurwitz after being egged on by Hamburg, the Clinton administration and environmentalists. Hamburg was the North Coast's representative in Congress from 1992-94. Federal claims totaling more than $1 billion were filed against Hurwitz in 1995, seven years after the collapse of a Texas savings and loan in which he held a minority interest. The FDIC contended Hurwitz was partially responsible for the collapse, which cost taxpayers about $1.6 billion. In the meantime, Hurwitz's takeover of Pacific Lumber had become the eye of an environmental storm in California over his accelerated logging of redwoods. Judge Hughes said as a result the federal agency was used as a "political weapon" against Hurwitz, in hopes that he would relinquish 3,000-acre Headwaters Forest to avoid trial of the FDIC claims, which were later dropped. Citing the involvement of Hamburg and then-Vice President Al Gore, Hughes accused government leaders of acting as "a secret society of extortionists." On Thursday, Hamburg said the judge's comments were "over the top." "Yes, I approached the FDIC in 1993 when we learned the agency was seriously considering filing claims against Hurwitz," Hamburg said. But he said the discussions were hypothetical. "From the very beginning, the FDIC staff said there wasn't any precedent for what we were proposing. They also reminded us that they first had to win the case before any 'debt' could be established," Hamburg said. He said there was no arm twisting by him or the Clinton administration. "My complaint then was that President Clinton was, in fact, spending too much time with Hurwitz' lobbyists, like Vernon Jordan," said Hamburg. Hamburg said that on a 1993 trip aboard Air Force One with Clinton, he spent much of the time "begging the president to pay attention to the controversy over Headwaters." Finally, on March 2, 1999, a $490 million state-federal accord was reached with Hurwitz for public acquisition of Headwaters. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, lead the negotiations. Feinstein's office Thursday declined to comment on Judge Hughes' assertions. Print This Article |
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Voice of the Environment is a 501 (c-3) not-for-profit Montana-based corporation formed in 1991.
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