For the full report: click here.

The above link may not work; if that's the case, go to http://www.latimes.com.
Under "Site Features" type in "Headwaters" and click FIND; the article is entitled, "US Makes 'Final' Offer to Purchase Headwaters."

Here is the beginning of the article:

The federal government has made its final offer to Pacific Lumber Co. for the purchase and preservation of Northern California's Headwaters Forest, U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said Thursday.

Pacific Lumber has accepted the offer "in principle" but has refused to sign a final deal, he said.

"We did not reach full agreement on every issue being discussed, but we agreed in principle to get the process moving to a final, written form when we can then determine if it is acceptable," said company spokeswoman Mary Bullwinkle.

A final Headwaters deal must be formally approved by the company, the Clinton administration and the state of California by March 1 in order to obtain $250 million from the federal government to help purchase portions of the forest.

Despite Pacific Lumber's refusal to sign off on the deal, both Babbitt and Douglas Wheeler, California's outgoing secretary of resources, were upbeat in their assessment of where things stand.

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