Pacific Lumber Co., a financially troubled titan of California's timber industry, is offering to sell more than one-quarter of its 220,000 acres of land in Humboldt County, a spokesman said Friday.

The company informed federal securities regulators that it is marketing ranchlands, recreational areas and timberlands that do not figure in its core business as a major redwood lumber producer. Officials said they hope to generate additional cash flow for the company, which has struggled to pay interest on its long-term debt and has threatened bankruptcy for more than a year.

"We are not liquidating the company or its timberland," President Robert Manne told employees in a letter. "This is not a massive sell-off ... but rather part of our larger restructuring efforts."

But analysts and critics said the sale of lands owned by Pacific Lumber and its subsidiary, Scotia Pacific Co., is the latest signal that the company needs to be seriously revamped by its parent company, Maxxam Inc.

Pacific Lumber, a 140-year-old company with its own mill town and the world's largest privately owned groves of ancient redwoods, was purchased in 1986 by Houston's Maxxam, headed by financier Charles Hurwitz.

Since then, the company has battled with regulators and environmentalists who allege that excessive timber cutting rapidly has depleted redwood forests, silted streams and harmed wildlife habitat.

Troubled company

Seven years ago, the state and federal governments made a $480 million deal to acquire 7,500 acres of Pacific Lumber's oldest trees to create the Headwaters Preserve. The company also agreed to limit logging on its remaining lands.

But officials said last year that the terms and restrictions imposed by regulators had cost the company millions of dollars and forced it to close mills and slash its workforce.

Officials said the company has not been able to cut enough timber to turn a profit and has strained to make payments on more than $700 million in bond financing secured by Scotia Pacific's timber holdings.

60,000 acres

In recent weeks, reports circulated in financial and real estate circles that the company was preparing to sell off some of its land. Spokesman Chuck Center confirmed Friday that the company is offering about 60,000 acres for sale.

Although he said he did not have detailed information, Center said many of the parcels were ranchland or timberland with Douglas fir, rather than prized redwood groves. "We do not want to sell off our core redwood lands," he said. "They're the lifeblood of our company."

Pacific Lumber contends that restrictions and permit problems at state water agencies have choked off its timber harvesting plans and harmed it financially. Catherine Kuhlman, executive officer of the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, said the buyers of the lands will remain subject to water quality and wildlife protection rules.

Liquidating assets

Mark Lovelace of the Humboldt Watershed Council found out about the sale and publicized it before the company reported it to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. He said the size of the sale indicates that the company is liquidating significant assets.

A spokeswoman for the bondholders' trustee declined comment on the sale.

Timber companies, developers and conservation groups are potential buyers, depending on the location, resources, price and accessibility.

Jim Redd, co-owner of Four Star Realty in Eureka, said some properties closest to cities would be developable but most probably would remain timberlands because of county zoning. "I know there's a fear among some people that Palco's going to subdivide and run, but I don't believe that's the case," he said.

Katherine Anderton, executive director of Save the Redwoods League in San Francisco, said Pacific Lumber's lands adjoin some of the state's most important redwood parks, including the Headwaters Preserve. "We would want to look at the land carefully," she said.