The company is also spraying tan oaks with the herbicide Garlon, which is closely related to Agent Orange but supposedly safer. Sandy Dean, president of MRC, says the company uses herbicides in order to restore the conifer forest by reducing the number of tan oaks, which proliferate on overlogged lands. However, the job could be done manually by work crews at a slightly greater cost. Dean points to MRC's less-invasive practices that lessen erosion, such as cable yarding and building rock roads, and to the company's support of fisheries and plans to build a market for tan oak. The result is said to be more aesthetically pleasing, as well as friendlier to wildlife that depends on tan oaks.
Activists say it's just greenwashing, an excuse to clearcut and take out more redwoods.
Dean admits that MRC cut some redwoods to make tan oak removal economically feasible, and does cut old-growth trees if there are fewer than 30 such trees on five acres. Dean complains that no level of logging would be acceptable to activists, and that's true for some groups that want to see California's remaining redwoods protected. As an alternative to that unprecedented act of generosity, RAN suggests independent monitoring of MRC's practices. Dean says he has been looking into establishing third-party certification of MRC's operations since last May but, so far, has not had such oversight. In the meantime, RAN returned a gift The Gap donated for a fundraising auction.