Bulletin Board

MRC staff will discuss our forest management practices and milestones, including the status of our Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certification, as well as provide an overall business update.

MRC would also like to take this opportunity to seek public feedback and answer any questions regarding company policies and activities.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010, 7:00-8:30 PM, Ukiah Valley Conference Center

Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 7:00-8:30 PM, CV Starr Community Center

Please click on this link for additional details, including address information for the meeting locations.  

We look forward to meeting with you soon!

www.mrc.com

Humboldt Redwood Company, LLC (HRC) achieved FSC certification of our lands by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in December, 2009. Consistent with the certification process of our affiliate company, Mendocino Redwood Company, LLC (MRC), we used the auditing services of Scientific Certification Systems of Emeryville, CA, and Smartwood of New York City. The team reports from the audit are posted on our website, as well as additional information on our forest management and certification efforts. This information may be found here.

Management of these forestlands in an exemplary and environmentally appropriate manner has been a long-sought goal for many stakeholders. We recognize that FSC certification of the approximate 210,000 acres of HRC lands, added to the 230,000 FSC-certified acres of MRC lands, is a major milestone and accomplishment.

Mendocino Forest Products/Mendocino Redwood Company (Mendocino) and Humboldt Redwood Company (HRC) have established Community Giving Programs designed to review and consider Non-profit funding requests in a fair and equitable manner. The companies accept requests for donations from Local Non-profit organizations from September 1-November 15, for funding consideration in the coming year. Requests received after November 15 will not be eligible for consideration, with the exception of youth sports and education programs. Youth sports and education programs will continue to be considered for year-round funding, as long as the companies giving funds have not been fully allocated.

Non-profit organizations with 501(c) (3) status may request funding over $250. Non-profit organizations that do not hold 501(c) (3) may be considered for funding up to $249. Funding priority may be given to programs designed to impact a broader group, in support of youth sports and education, the elderly, those less fortunate, the environment, safety, and those organizations the company has supported in previous years.

Requests may be submitted in writing on the organizations letterhead with a brief narrative of the organization and its charter mission, along with a description of how the requested funds would be used.  In Mendocino, Lake and Sonoma Counties, request may be submitted to Mendocino Redwood Company, Attn: Community Action Team (CAT), P.O. Box 996, Ukiah, CA 95482, or e-mailed to lgarbocci@mendoco.com or ksavonen@mendoco.com. Request for donations in Humboldt County, may be submitted to Humboldt Redwood Company, Attn: Community Action Team (CAT), P.O. Box 37, Scotia, CA 95565 or e-mail to jcurteman@hrcllc.com.

Award recipients will be notified of approved funding in the first quarter of the coming year.

We regularly get requests from unsecured creditors seeking information about the administration of the Scopac and Palco unsecured creditors trusts that were set up as part of the MRC/Marathon plan of reorganization.  Therefore we thought it would be helpful to provide the following:

Distribution Status:
All allowed Scopac trade claim payments were paid 100% in full on October 4th.  
Also on October 4th, allowed unsecured Palco claims received a distribution of 25% of their allowed claim.  
As soon as the larger disputed Palco claims are resolved a subsequent distribution will be made.  At this time we do not have a date for that distribution.

Contact Information:
For Palco unsecured or Scopac trade claim related questions, please contact:
Julianne Viadro, Trustee, PLC Litigation Trust.
by email:  viadro@hickeyhill.com
by phone: 925-283-7802.

These are brief periodic meetings to stay in touch with our community, discuss open or emerging issues and to answer questions from those who attend.  Hope to see you there.

By: Richard Higgenbottom, CEO

      Mike Jani, President

On August 4th we sent letters to about 125 recent former customers of Pacific Lumber Co.  Through the years many distributors throughout the country, and abroad, have purchased lumber from Palco. In an effort to reach as many former customers as possible, we felt it would be helpful to post the aforementioned letter on this website. Here is the link...

Letter to Customers of Pacific Lumber Company (PDF size 84K)

By the time the 6:30 a.m. whistle blew Wednesday morning, the HRC sawmill was well into day one of production.  The previous week's activities were an exciting crescendo to the 6:00 a.m. start-up of the mill, and Thursday's return of log deliveries to the yard.  On the surface it looks like business as usual, but underneath a careful observer will see some differences:

• Immediate implementation of a comprehensive old growth protection policy
• Elimination of traditional clear-cuts
• New log and lumber inventory management system supportive of a market driven approach to distribution
• Lean executive leadership team
• A lot of smiles

We are generating more questions than we have answers for, more projects than we have time for, and more excitement than we have stamina for.  One of our HRC managers said, "I feel like a little kid again."  Our hope is that others feel rejuvenated too as they consider the many positive opportunities in front of us.  Faith has been described as "the assurance that what we hope for will come about."  We have great faith in how our newly formed HRC team will perform, and once again want to say thank you to this community for the great support they have provided.

By: Richard Higgenbottom, CEO

We BLEW IT because we didn't BLOW IT!

Yes we heard it loud and clear "the whistle is part of our heritage... please keep it going." We have full intention to keep the whistle blowing everyday on the same schedule it has for many years. During a recent town meeting both HRC and Town of Scotia agreed to do just that, and the very next morning at 6:30 a.m. the whistle didn't blow. For years the whistle has been triggered manually from a switch in the main office. Well seems for it to work properly and on time someone must be on the job to push the button. Somehow we missed that detail! Going forward we aim to do better by installing an automatic timer switch. Until then we will keep someone pushing the button as we understand and agree that "the Whistle must BLOW!"

Our Human Resources teams are still working diligently to finalize HRC staffing plans.  We are all anxious to get this transition phase completed and begin moving ahead.  Trying to fairly and objectively fill nearly 250 jobs from a pool of approximately 300 great employees is a challenging and emotional process for all involved.  We hope to make some progress today, Saturday, and use Sunday as a day of rest. Therefore the timeline for job offers will continue into the middle of next week.  Thank you for your patience and understanding.

After many starts and stops in trying to get to this day, we are all excited to work on building Humboldt Redwood Company. Our first and most important task is working through employment offers for close to 250 folks.  Below is our most current letter To All Employees that shares some information about a variety of important employment related items. For the most current updates continue to view this Bulletin Board.
First Letter to Future Humboldt Redwood Company Employees (PDF size 40K)