MAXXAM/PL's "Cooling Off Period" Proposal

As many of you may have noticed from the press release regarding
MAXXAM/PL's "cooling off period" proposal, I was one of the original
people to whom the proposal was made.
It was June 17th, 2003, which would have been David "Gypsy" Chain's
29th birthday, if he had not been killed by MAXXAM/PL in 1998, and
MAXXAM/PL was at the Upper Freshwater Village, recklessly endangering
yet another human life in yet another tree-top extraction.
I was there, and so was Rich Bettis, PL's Land Manager. He had just
been on the phone with Robert Manne, PL's President, and then he came
walking up the hill, and called out, "Hey, Shunka!"
Out of curiosity, I walked towards him, as he headed towards where
Remedy was standing. We circled up there, and that's when he made
the proposal, to me and Remedy, to agree not to cut certain trees, if
the tree-sitters would agree to come down, and we took our stuff out,
for six months, so that we could figure out some kind of workable
solution.
I was excited, because I had been waiting for something to break, so
that we could save Gypsy Mountain near Grizzly Creek State Park and
the Old Growth in Freshwater. Rich Bettis told me that he would call
me in the next day or two, and that I should call him if I didn't
hear from him. Remedy and I both said that we wanted to see
something in writing, and we looked at each other with looks that
said, "Hmmm, this could be good" and "Hmmm, what are these guys up
to?"
Well, two days passed, and no word from Rich or MAXXAM/PL, so I
called Rich, and that's when I realized that things were already
changing. He said that the deal was going to go through the "Forest
Peace Alliance," and had been taken out of mine and Remedy's hands.
I was still hopeful, although most others were highly skeptical.
Days passed, and no word from PL...I only heard rumors about a
written copy of the proposal, and what I heard about it was not good.
What I heard was that the proposal said that if ANYONE so much as
spoke to a MAXXAM/PL employee in a way that they didn't like, then
MAXXAM/PL could just go and immediately cut Aradia on Gypsy Mountain
(tree #30) and the Upper Freshwater Village.
So, in summary, MAXXAM/PL was asking us to do the impossible...they
wanted one person, Gypsy's mother, to sign an agreement that would
guarantee that NO ONE protests on ANY PART OF PL'S LAND.
There's no way that the Gypsy Mountain crew can tell the Freshwater
crew or the Mattole crew what to do, and the protests will not stop,
entirely, until MAXXAM/PL agrees to (1)stop logging Old Growth, (2)
stop clearcutting, (3)stop using herbicides and chemical burning
agents, and (4)stop logging on steep, unstable slopes.
So, knowing that, it seems that it would behoove MAXXAM/PL to
MINIMIZE their conflicts, instead of waste time and paper with a pipe
dream proposal.
We could have ended the Gypsy Mountain conflict by extending the
Gypsy Memorial, possibly extending Grizzly Creek State Park, and that
would be one less thorn for MAXXAM. Yet I was never contacted, even
though my pager number and address are highly publicized, and
MAXXAM/PL has that information, positively.
What poor business practices...making deal proposals with
individuals, and then not following up with those people, AT ALL,
and, instead, coming up with a pipe dream proposal, which, of course,
was answered with our real dream proposal, and so now Jim Branham,
PL's PR guy, says that the proposal is dead. How sad...
So, folks, we almost had a chance to save some more Old Growth, yet
MAXXAM/PL is being completely unreasonable, and is trying to turn
Aradia/Gypsy Mountain and Jerry/Upper Freshwater Village into a
hostage situation, saying that they will rush in and kill them all,
if we come down, try the "cooling off period," and someone decides to
get arrested in some remote area of PL's land holdings.
How easy would it be for some feddie disruptor to pose as an EF!er
and get arrested in the 5th month, just so that MAXXAM/PL could go in
and cut the trees.
Come on, PL! Deal with us directly, fairly, and reasonably!
This is my update, and, as you can feel, I'm very disappointed with
Rich Bettis, Robert Manne, and Co. I really thought that we might be
getting close to saving some more trees and ending part of the
conflict. Maybe MAXXAM/PL will come to their senses soon.
I'm still here if you do...
Until then, we'll keep on resisting, and will hold strong, and will
continue to build the movement, locally and globally.
Thanks to all of you who have hung on and helped out over the years
past and present, and a special welcome to all the newcomers.
Boycott corporate generica! Earth First!