A Treesitter's Tale

An editorial the Times-Standard doesn't want to print.

A Treesitter's Tale

by Amanita

Unlike Robert Manne, I was born and raised in Humboldt County. Throughout my life I have witnessed Maxxam's destruction of our beautiful forests, and seen the direct damage done to Humboldt County residents from PL's liquidation logging that relentlessly tears away the forest above our homes. I remember vividly the New Years Day landslides in Stafford, caused by PL's irresponsible logging, and the shock of my community as CDF approved another massive clearcut adjacent to these slides. In short, I've watched CDF approve destructive logging plan after destructive logging plan with zero regard to neighboring residents, many of whom have lost their sources of clean drinking water, or the endangered wildlife whose existence is threatened by a debt-driven rate of cut.

Last spring, several treesitters were violently removed with the cooperation of police, who are as eager to do Maxxam's bidding as CDF. I watched as the Humboldt County Sheriffs illegally shut down Greenwood Heights Drive on March 17, and took a face full of pepper spray as I sought to do nothing more than witness the controversial extractions by PL and Eric Schatz Tree Service.

Given the injustice of the situation, and the helplessness of a community in the face of corruption that values interests of an outside corporation over safety and quality of life of people who live and work here, I decided to put my body between Maxxam and the Freshwater watershed.

I was forcibly removed from a 1,600 year-old tree. I experienced my own rough treatment from Eric Schatz, who had recently taken out an ad in the Times-Standard saying he wanted to "rescue" treesitters, for "safety" reasons. At the hands of these "rescuers," treesitters were kicked, choked, hung up side down by one leg, and hog-tied. Court documents show Schatz has a history of domestic violence - apparently an appropriate resume for the removal of treesitters. These men expressed little concern over my safety, but at $70,000 a week, I guess a bounty hunter's gotta do what a bounty hunter's gotta do. After my removal, a tree seven times older than America herself was cut down.

Violence against treesitters is merely a dramatization of violence against residents who suffer property damage due to Maxxam's unsustainable rate of cut. And just as sheriffs turned their backs on PL's violence toward treesitters, they turn their backs on the real needs of this community - to be kept safe from all threatening and dangerous elements of society, whether it be spousal abusers or corporate criminals.

Since PL is funding them, I see what the Safety Yes! Recall Gallegos campaign is all about. It does not include the safety of people who oppose Maxxam's destruction of our home, only the safety of Charles Hurwitz' profit margin.

After vigorous prosecution, I was sentenced to ten days in jail, and was released at 3:30 am. The same police who publicly declare concern for the safety of women and children, refused to let me call for a safe ride home. Being an 18 year old woman forced onto the streets of Eureka in the middle of the night is terrifying. Ironically, I had to climb a tree for safety from a man lurking outside the jail. But apparently our "law enforcement" is only concerned with the safety of some of us, not all of us.

Two days later my mother was arrested at yet another treesit extraction. She wasn't protesting, simply witnessing. What got her into trouble was her vocal opposition to PL security chief Carl Anderson's attempted assault on another citizen witnessing the extraction. Mr. Anderson is not law enforcement, and has no legal authority to touch or lunge at civilians. "You have no right to touch her," my mother said. "I can't believe what you did to her." Following Anderson's command, a sheriff, at the beck and call of Maxxam/PL, arrested my mother. Her charges were dropped due to the absurdity of her arrest.

It's ludicrous for the Maxxam-funded "Recall Paul" campaign to portray treesitters as asking the DA for help. Treesitters know they risk jail time and brutality, and would rather go to jail than see more ancient trees cut down by an outside corporation to the great cost of local residents. We would rather go to jail than stay silent while the salmon go extinct. We don't base our decision to protest on who's sitting in the DA's office. We base it on the intolerable injustice suffered by residents of this county at the behest of a Texas corporation.