April 28, 2000
On the North Coast, it can feel like we?re stepping back in time. Clearcuts continue to grow, Coho runs diminish and Governor Gray Davis, who has received over $300,000 from the timber industry, continues to stymie meaningful reform of the state?s forestry rules. In response to a system that listens to campaign contributions over public will, North Coast Earth First! organized a Week of Resistance Action Camp to come out of the shadow cast by the Headwaters Deal.
Action Camp opened March 30th and by Saturday over a hundred activists were in attendance. Trainings, updates and role plays dominated the first three days in preparation for the week ahead. Sunday morning we found ourselves at the doorstep of California Department of Forestry Director, Andrea Tuttle, delivering an early-morning wake-up call of authentic Elk River mud from upstream Maxxam clearcuts. Holding these decision-makers accountable for rubberstamping the extinction of our salmon and killing our rivers is important, and our action sent a message that could not be ignored in Sacramento.
Early Monday morning found the three access gates to Maxxam lands in Jordan Creek blocked and three arrested in stopping the clearcutting of what ancient forest remains in that devastated drainage. In Fort Bragg, Mendocino Earth First! occupied the doorway and rooftop of the Hawthorne Group, a faceless investor?s conglomerate that owns Georgia Pacific?s former timber lands, which plans to clearcut along the Noyo River, as well as the old growth redwoods along the Skunk Line Train in Mendocino County.
Wednesday a dozen activists locked down to the Columbia Helicopter crew trucks, out of state loggers hired by Maxxam to liquidate 1,040 acres of residual and intact old growth in the coming months. Thursday morning sixteen activists occupied the equipment yard of Pacific Forestry and Marine, an Arcata company that sprays thousands of gallons of poisonous herbicides on Maxxam, Simpson and Barnum lands with no public oversight or accountability. The week ended with a hike to Gypsy Mountain to remember our friend who was killed while defending the ancient redwoods.
The Week of Action was our first in over a year and again reminded us that non-violent direct action is a vital element that must remain constant to educate the public of the ongoing devastation of our forests, salmon and community. With the Hole in Headwaters still on the chopping block, there will be more to come.
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TOC for Forest & River News, Spring 2000