Environmental justice executive order 12898, 1996
File — Box: 7, Folder: 11
Scope and Content
From the Collection:
The Rosenstock Collection includes legal pleadings, depositions, correspondence, research, and notes concerning disputes involving La Compañía Ocho, Inc., a community owned logging company based in Vallecitos, NM area. The documents in the collection come from the files of Attorney Richard Rosenstock, who represented La Compañía Ocho from 1990 to1997. The documents were primarily generated in the 1990s, but include some research, reports, and correspondence from 1944. Rosenstock’s representation included pursuing lawsuits that involved contractual obligations by Duke City Lumber Company; discrimination and retaliation in the awarding of logging contracts for timber in the nearby Carson National Forest by the United States Forest Service; and resisting the efforts of Santa Fe based “environmentalists" to prevent the execution of timber contracts awarded as part of the settlement of the suit against the Forest Service. La Compañía Ocho also filed Amicus Curiae briefs in suits that potentially affected logging contracts that the company had obtained.
The Sustained Yield Forest Management Act of 1944 provided the grounds for some of the claims. It allowed the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a sustained yield within the National Forest. This enabled communities within a Sustained Unit to improve their local economy through the acquisition and sale of timber and other forest products. The communities in the Vallecitos area are one such community. They had relied on resources found in what became the Carson National Forest, since the Spanish and Mexican period. In this era, villages had rights to resources found in the forest and other communal lands. When the region fell under the sovereignty of the United States, Congress and the federal courts deemed communal lands to be part of the public domain rather than property of the villages that had received them through grants and usage. Eventually, these forests became part of the National Forest. The Sustained Yield Forest Management Act of 1944 and subsequent federal legislation sought to redress some of the economic damage that resulted from this. These acts also sought to enhance the economic viability of the villages by giving local companies known as “responsible operators" timber contracts. These contracts and their subcontracts are the substance of the Rosenstock collection.
The collection includes the following Series:
La Compañía Ocho v. Duke City Lumber (1944-1992): This series includes pleadings, arbitration records and exhibits, correspondence, and notes related to arbitration over the fulfillment of contractual obligations. Duke City had hired La Compañía Ocho to provide services as a subcontractor in in the Carson National Forest. La Compañía Ocho claimed that the proper payments for cut timber were not made in addition to other obligations Duke City was obligated to perform. After arbitration, a settlement was reached and Duke City agreed to pay La Compañía Ocho for the damages it incurred. This series also contains files concerning claims against Warren Smith Contracting, which were related to the Duke City dispute.
La Compañía Ocho v. United States Forest Service (1992-1997): This series includes pleadings, exhibits, correspondence, and notes related to the 1994 lawsuit that La Compañía Ocho filed suit against the United States Forest Service. In the suit, La Compañía Ocho claimed that Forest Service practiced and demonstrated patterns of discrimination and retaliatory conduct. This included adverse treatment in the awarding of logging contracts. La Compañía Ocho sought a judgment that would essentially award them timber contracts through injunctions. It also sought compensatory and punitive damages as well as attorney fees and costs. The parties agreed to a settlement.
Forest Guardians (1995-1997): This series contains pleadings filed in Arizona and New Mexico by the Forest Guardians and other groups against the United States Forest Service, claiming that logging operations would damage ancient forests and endangered species. These suits were appealed to the 9th Circuit Appeals Court, who ruled against the Forest Guardians. La Compañía Ocho filed several Amicus Briefs in an attempt to lift a temporary injunction banning logging in various areas in which it held contracts. The 9th Circuit issued its opinion on June 25, 1997. This subseries also includes exhibits, correspondence, and notes.
La Manga Timber Sale (1978-1999; Bulk 1996-1997): In 1996 La Compañía Ocho won the right to log 75 percent of the La Manga sale after suing the Forest Service in 1994 for mismanagement of land and racial discrimination. The “La Manga Timber Sale" refers to a group of national forest tracts within the Vallecitos Unit set aside by the Forest Service for the sale of logging rights. The Forest Guardians had filed suit against the Forest Service to prevent the sale. La Compañía Ocho intervened on the side of the Forest Service. The federal court ruled in favor of La Compañía Ocho and the Forest Service. The documents in this series include research and litigation materials on La Manga.
Rio Arriba Coalition of Counties (RAC) 1995-1999 (bulk, 1996-1997): Rio Arriba Coalition of Counties (RAC) is a coalition of rural northern New Mexican residents and rural southern New Mexican residents that possess a mutual desire to maintain a traditional, rural existence. Rosenstock intervened on behalf of La Compañía Ocho and RAC who both wished to challenge the Fish and Wildlife Service creation of a critical habitat for the Mexican Spotted Owl on Federal lands encompassing 8.6 million acres in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Documents in this series include correspondence, research and legal materials related to Coalition of Arizona/New Mexico Counties, et.al., v. United States Forest & Wildlife Service, et al.
The Sustained Yield Forest Management Act of 1944 provided the grounds for some of the claims. It allowed the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a sustained yield within the National Forest. This enabled communities within a Sustained Unit to improve their local economy through the acquisition and sale of timber and other forest products. The communities in the Vallecitos area are one such community. They had relied on resources found in what became the Carson National Forest, since the Spanish and Mexican period. In this era, villages had rights to resources found in the forest and other communal lands. When the region fell under the sovereignty of the United States, Congress and the federal courts deemed communal lands to be part of the public domain rather than property of the villages that had received them through grants and usage. Eventually, these forests became part of the National Forest. The Sustained Yield Forest Management Act of 1944 and subsequent federal legislation sought to redress some of the economic damage that resulted from this. These acts also sought to enhance the economic viability of the villages by giving local companies known as “responsible operators" timber contracts. These contracts and their subcontracts are the substance of the Rosenstock collection.
The collection includes the following Series:
La Compañía Ocho v. Duke City Lumber (1944-1992): This series includes pleadings, arbitration records and exhibits, correspondence, and notes related to arbitration over the fulfillment of contractual obligations. Duke City had hired La Compañía Ocho to provide services as a subcontractor in in the Carson National Forest. La Compañía Ocho claimed that the proper payments for cut timber were not made in addition to other obligations Duke City was obligated to perform. After arbitration, a settlement was reached and Duke City agreed to pay La Compañía Ocho for the damages it incurred. This series also contains files concerning claims against Warren Smith Contracting, which were related to the Duke City dispute.
La Compañía Ocho v. United States Forest Service (1992-1997): This series includes pleadings, exhibits, correspondence, and notes related to the 1994 lawsuit that La Compañía Ocho filed suit against the United States Forest Service. In the suit, La Compañía Ocho claimed that Forest Service practiced and demonstrated patterns of discrimination and retaliatory conduct. This included adverse treatment in the awarding of logging contracts. La Compañía Ocho sought a judgment that would essentially award them timber contracts through injunctions. It also sought compensatory and punitive damages as well as attorney fees and costs. The parties agreed to a settlement.
Forest Guardians (1995-1997): This series contains pleadings filed in Arizona and New Mexico by the Forest Guardians and other groups against the United States Forest Service, claiming that logging operations would damage ancient forests and endangered species. These suits were appealed to the 9th Circuit Appeals Court, who ruled against the Forest Guardians. La Compañía Ocho filed several Amicus Briefs in an attempt to lift a temporary injunction banning logging in various areas in which it held contracts. The 9th Circuit issued its opinion on June 25, 1997. This subseries also includes exhibits, correspondence, and notes.
La Manga Timber Sale (1978-1999; Bulk 1996-1997): In 1996 La Compañía Ocho won the right to log 75 percent of the La Manga sale after suing the Forest Service in 1994 for mismanagement of land and racial discrimination. The “La Manga Timber Sale" refers to a group of national forest tracts within the Vallecitos Unit set aside by the Forest Service for the sale of logging rights. The Forest Guardians had filed suit against the Forest Service to prevent the sale. La Compañía Ocho intervened on the side of the Forest Service. The federal court ruled in favor of La Compañía Ocho and the Forest Service. The documents in this series include research and litigation materials on La Manga.
Rio Arriba Coalition of Counties (RAC) 1995-1999 (bulk, 1996-1997): Rio Arriba Coalition of Counties (RAC) is a coalition of rural northern New Mexican residents and rural southern New Mexican residents that possess a mutual desire to maintain a traditional, rural existence. Rosenstock intervened on behalf of La Compañía Ocho and RAC who both wished to challenge the Fish and Wildlife Service creation of a critical habitat for the Mexican Spotted Owl on Federal lands encompassing 8.6 million acres in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Documents in this series include correspondence, research and legal materials related to Coalition of Arizona/New Mexico Counties, et.al., v. United States Forest & Wildlife Service, et al.
Dates
- 1996
Language of Materials
From the Collection:
English
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Extent
From the Collection: 7 boxes (7 cu. ft.)
Repository Details
Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository
Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451