July 17, 2000
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NCEF! mobilized an action camp in early June when Maxxam/PL completed their owl surveys, a final step before cutting. Out of that camp a road blockade was erected. For nine days, a handful of EF!ers prevented further preparations for logging the ?Hole.? In the early morning hours one Monday, Humboldt County Sheriffs and Pacific Lumber security personnel raided the blockade ? destroying it, arresting two people, and burning our gear (ropes, tarps, personal belongings). We are just going to have to build a better mousetrap next time.
The number of direct action forest defenders has increased since we opened the action training camp on the banks of the Elk River. In preparing to stop any cutting in the Hole, much training has gone on: non-violence, backwoods, jail and the legal system, ?conversing with the media,? and many other topics. Skill-sharing at its finest! EF! attended, in strong numbers, the court hearing on EPIC?s request for a temporary injunction. (See ?Will the Hole in Headwaters Be Logged??)
While the struggle to protect the ?Hole in Headwaters? goes on, NCEF! is branching out to the other decimators of the coastal redwood ecosystem. Simpson Timber and Sierra Pacific Industries (largest private landowner in the state, wants to clearcut 1 million acres!) are but two of the corporations that, with the Governor?s help, are stripping life off the hillsides. Corporate Timber and the government place profits over life itself. NCEF! will continue to take direct action and do its part to oppose this destruction.
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TOC for Headwaters Update, Summer 2000