The new agreement calls for the company to supervise closely and inspect all logging and trucking operations and report to CDF after each inspection or at least twice a month. The company is hiring two more foresters to form a compliance team to see that all conditions of the agreement are met. The agreement is given enforcement teeth by carefully spelling out the conditions under which CDF can terminate the timber operator license. That was a tall order from the beginning and required a constantly increasing number of rules and regulations to address all the issues that have come up during the past 20 years. It's important to keep this complexity in mind when discussing enforcement or violation of the rules.
All law enforcement calls for judgment when enforcing the rules and laws.
Not all speeders or jaywalkers are cited. Judgment is used to weigh the seriousness of the infraction against the cost of enforcing the law to the letter. The same is true in the case of CDF inspectors. If there are 900 active timber operations in the area and you have limited personnel, you focus on the most critical operations, those most likely to cause serious problems and ones that cannot be easily corrected. This last year CDF was not allowed to fill two vacancies in southern Humboldt County and fell behind in its inspection program.