Democratic Gov. Gray Davis has not taken a public position on the clear-cutting ban but seems unlikely to support it. Environmentalists say Davis balked during negotiations in June over whether to include an earlier, milder version of A.B. 717 in the year's state budget. Keeley, state Sen. Byron Sher and other backers refused to dilute or abandon the reform bill, which they had spent two years advancing through the Legislature. The stalemate led Davis to remove funding for the bill from the budget. Supporters then decided to bring the bill back in a simpler, more daring form.

Davis faces pressure both from environmentalists, who are confident they have a winning public issue, and from a timber industry that has contributed heavily to his campaign coffers. Sierra Pacific hosted a fundraiser for the governor on July 13, 1999 -- the same day Davis' administration issued logging rules that both environmentalists and the federal government's National Marine Fisheries Service complained were too weak to protect coho salmon and other threatened species. The fundraiser netted Davis $129,000 in contributions from the timber industry. Five months later, Davis appointed Sierra Pacific executive Mark Bosetti to the state Board of Forestry.

In June, when Davis' office was asked how Californians could be confident Davis would fairly balance environmental and timber-industry arguments, spokesman Byron Tucker replied, "You're making a connection between campaign contributions a year ago and a decision being made now? Clear-cutting is legal in California, so what's the beef?"

But clear-cutting has been generating more and more public opposition. Sierra Pacific's logging near Big Trees State Park sparked local demonstrations and high-profile coverage by the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times and CNN. On July 24, the company announced it would halt all clear-cutting in the area for 30 days while it modified the project "in response to some of the concerns of Calaveras County residents."

Those opposed to clear-cutting celebrated the partial ban, but weren't satisfied. Sierra Pacific proposed changing the size and appearance of the clear-cuts and expanding water-quality monitoring after the logging was finished. Local activist Warren Alford dismissed those modifications as a transparent effort to co-opt opposition. Moreover, noted Alford, Sierra Pacific's moratorium applied only to new logging. Since the company had already clear-cut about one-fourth of its targeted area, it has remained busy during its moratorium period hauling away the freshly harvested timber. Last Tuesday afternoon, this reporter watched seven trucks loaded with logs drive through the nearby town of Arnold.

Sierra Pacific's suspension of logging at Big Trees ends Monday. But it could then face a legislatively imposed moratorium on all of its clear-cutting operations. Given the stakes, Keeley acknowledges it won't be easy to win passage of his bill or get it signed by a governor who sees forestry issues through an industry-friendly lens. As Keeley puts it, to Davis, "forestry is part of agriculture. Trees are just big, tall crops."

But politicians of all stripes may be leery of crossing public sentiment on the clear-cutting issue. Many Californians seem surprised to learn that clear-cutting is legal at all in their state and if environmentalists can focus enough media and public attention on the possibility of a moratorium, lawmakers may find it difficult to oppose the idea.

"I think members will support the bill when they learn about the tremendous explosion in rates of clear-cutting in the Sierra and the risk it poses to both the economic engine of many Sierra counties and California's watersheds," says Keeley. "I'm responding to a groundswell of concern from a unique coalition of rural businesses, local elected officials and forestland owners who fear their communities will be devastated by unsustainable timber practices."

In any case, the issue will be decided soon. The moratorium must pass both houses of the Legislature by the end of the session, on Aug. 31, or it dies. Davis then has until Dec. 31 to sign it or not.

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