Mattole Forest Defenders Brace for New Round of Attacks

Forest Defenders are preparing for new rounds of attacks by the partnership of Humboldt County Law enforcement and Maxxam/Pacific Lumber loggers as they attempt stripping away priceless Old Growth Douglas Fir Forests up in the mountains of the Mattole, the part known as Rainbow Ridge.

Other timber harvest plans are also close to being approved whereby over 3000 acres of this beautiful Old Fir Forest could be hacked down in a hodgepodge of clearcuts which only adds to the ruin, the erosion and the detrimental accumulative effects to this country! IT'S TIME FOR BIG CHANGES IN SO-CALLED LOGGING OPERATIONS!

A hearing concerning the violence of police against forest defenders was held before Christmas. Being asked is how the Human Rights Commission is to do its job when not permitted at the scene of police brutalities. The clear cutting is taking place 14 miles inside Pacific Lumber property and legal observers have been denied access up to now.

Meanwhile the staff of the Regional Water Quality Board, is so scathing in it's recent report of five other nearby watersheds violated for years by Maxxam/Pacific Lumber logging, it says no amount of attempted restoration the company intends will cover the destruction already done! They say it is really a matter of "CEASE AND DESIST"…a stop work order, to be heard by the Water Board soon!

Unfortunately this report does not cover the Mattole with its landslides, the same silted streams, loss of water quality and effect on the fish and other wildlife of those watersheds.

We have seen the patterns of this companies practices for long years now. It is crucial to put this knowledge to work! We have also routinely accepted so much of our country being fraudulently acquired and we have lived with the excesses of those land tyrants, their PRIVATE PROPERTY and their abuses of our natural wonders and resources! What are the responsibilities of private ownership, hardly ever addressed under the Laws of our Public Trust in regard to large landowners! IT'S TIME FOR BIG CHANGES IN SO-CALLED LOGGING OPERATIONS!

Our empowerment is based on our sense that too much has already been lost and more compromises are absolutely unthinkable! Too much has already been destroyed, leading inevitably to the conclusion; "There are no real alternatives left, but to stop it"! For Forest Defenders, this means taking whatever non-violent and creative means necessary to stop the destruction. IT'S TIME FOR BIG CHANGES IN LOGGING OPERATIONS!

As this long-term battle warms up, forest defense will mean keeping in touch and following developments closely. Part of the whole process of how "movement" works is acknowledging the need to change and the moves bringing our energy to help sustain the actions! Call us!

Because of the violence by police toward activists we immediately ask everyone concerned to call government agencies; the Eureka Sheriff's Dept. 707-445-7251, Human Rights Commission 707-268-2548, and the Board of Supervisors 707-476-2384 to demand an end to any brutality of those of us defending our forests! We need to stop these flagrant violations of laws specifically written for the protection of our lives when facing loggers cutting in our presence! IT'S TIME FOR BIG CHANGES IN POLICE AND LOGGING OPERATIONS!

Mattole Forest Defenders 707-441-3828
North Coast Earth First! 707-825-6598