Mattole Update and Upcoming CDF Rally

In This Update:
-Upcoming CDF Rally
-Maxxam Logging In The Mattole, No Rainbow Ridge Logging In 3 months
-Rattlesnake Creek Logging and Actions
-Hole In Headwaters
-Needs + Contact Info

Upcoming CDF Rally
This Thursday, February 22nd, at 10am, Mattole Community members are hosting another rally at the California Department of Forestry office in Fortuna (118 Fortuna Blvd.). We are calling on CDF to impose an one year moratorium on Maxxam THP approvals and logging on Rainbow Ridge so a serious community Aquinas' effort can be made outside of a crisis atmosphere. A similar rally was attended by 70 folks on Jan 25th and we hope to double our attendance. There will be songs, speeches and usual efforts to get some CDF officials out from behind the drawn blinds and closed doors to answer for their agencies capitulation. Rides from Arcata will be leaving 9am from the Arcata Co-op kiosk, on I street between 8th and 9th.

Maxxam Logging In The Mattole
No Rainbow Ridge Logging In 3 months. Our blockade the "Mattole Free State" continues block Maxxam/Pacific Lumber from logging old-growth douglas fir on Rainbow Ridge. Clearly Maxxam is choosing not to challenge the blockade and the near constant presence of 30 nonviolent forest defenders in the wood has effectively shut down their operations for 12 weeks, a Humboldt County blockading record. It was November 28th that Maxxam/Pacific Lumber last sent in Columbia Helicopter loggers accompanied by Humboldt County Sheriffs to log old-growth doug-fir in the Mattole. Since then Mattole Forest Defenders have moved almost 2 miles up Long Ridge to create the Mattole Free State, a blockade complete with several lock downs, a junked car, a wall of debris and a hanging pod across the road. Forest Defenders have endured some of the harshest Humboldt County winter weather seen in years. 5 of the 8 Rainbow Ridge THPs have now been approved. We need fresh activist at the free state so please see our needs section to get involved.

Rattlesnake Creek Actions
During the week of February 5th through 9th, the Mattole Forest Defenders were busy defending another Mattole plan in Rattlesnake creek. THP 309 is in the lower north fork of the Mattole, about 12 miles from the Mattole Free State blockade and Long Ridge Area. Mattole Forest Defenders confronted Maxxam/Pacific Lumber hired Columbia logging crews threes days in one week, stopping logging until almost noon each of those days. 4 activist were arrested over the week by shadowing timber fallers as they attempted to cut trees. THP 309 is 63 acre in size and calls for clearcutting and selection of second growth Douglas Fir forest and 15 acres of old-growth Douglas Fir. Rattlesnake Creek is directly adjacent to Humboldt Redwoods State Park and logging crews parked within the state park to hike to the units which in some cases are only 200ft from the county road. THP 309 was opposed by a number of community groups for it's lack of proper cumulative impact analysis on the effects on late successional forest and threatened Mattole fisheries. No watershed analysis by Maxxam was conducted in the Mattole before THP 309 and four other THPs in North Fork of the Mattole were approved. It's another example of more bad logging that clearcuts in unstable areas and targets pockets of old-growth left on Maxxams holdings. As we so successfully defend the heart of the Mattole, we're watching dozens of other aggregious plans come down the line.

Hole In Headwaters Logging Plan approval by CDF
We've gotten word that THP 520, the "Hole In Headwaters" could be approved by the California Department of Forestry as early as next Wednesday, Feb. 28th. CDF has been holding us in suspense for over a month since public comment closed on 1/11/01. This present incarnation of THP 520 was in direct response to the EPIC/Sierra Club lawsuit which was granted on injunction on logging last July and is set to go to trial in March. Pacific Lumber has also filed five new logging plans (THPs 1-00-352, 1-00-387, 1-00-388, 1-00-448 & 1-00-452.) that span both sides of the South Fork Elk River and total nearly 700 acres of mature second growth forest. The land inside the "Hole" and across the river from it, some 7,000 acres of forest, were traded to Maxxam/Pacific Lumber as part of the Headwaters "Deal." This 7,000 acres of forest was identified in the state law that funded the "Deal" as a priority for acquisition with whatever funds remain after the purchase of Owl Creek, for which $80 million was allocated. The state just announced that it is buying Owl Creek for $67 million, potentially leaving $13 million for this acquisition. These new logging plans pose a serious threat not only to the proposed acquisition area, but also to the biological integrity of the Headwaters Reserve itself. New logging on the South Fork Elk River (except on THP 97-520) is currently constrained by a so-called "moratorium" that was imposed by the California Department of Forestry in January 1998. This moratorium requires additional information on aggravated flooding and public safety concerns for downstream Elk River residents. However, in nearby Freshwater Creek, the same so-called "moratorium" has been lifted under a substantially weaker standard than that originally imposed by CDF.

Please Call or Write:

California Governor Gray Davis
916/445-2841 voice
916/445-4633 fax
graydavis [at] governor.ca.gov or
governor [at] governor.ca.gov

Bare Bones Sample Message

Governor Davis,
Please stop MAXXAM/Pacific Lumber's plans to log THP 520, the "Hole in The Headwaters". This extreme logging plan, which lies entirely within the Preserves boundaries, will clearcut a forested area the size of 656 football fields, endanger downstream residents with increased flooding and lead to the local extinction of one of the last native Coho Salmon runs left in California. It will ruin what ecological integrity is left of Headwaters Forest. We must acquire the entire South Fork of the Elk River watershed and add it to the Headwaters Preserve. Thank you.

Sincerely, For The Coho

Essential Forest Defender Needs
> Immune Boosters i.e. Echinacea tinctures/pills
> zinc tablets
> Tea bags
> Ground coffee (organic is preferred)
> Hydrogen Peroxide
> Chocolate (vegan if possible)
> High protein pocket food i.e. cliff bars, power bars
> Dried soup mixes
> Hummus & Falafel mix
> Organic oats & Rice
> Vitamin C/Emer'gen-C packets
> Trail mix
> Tofu
> Dried fruit/raw nuts
> Fleece tops and bottoms
> Nokia 5100/6100 Cell phone batteries
> Bivy Sacs
> Sleeping Bags
> Waterproof Tarps
> Static Line
> Pagers
> Walky Talky's (5 watts perferred)
> UHF/VHF radios
> Video Camera's
> Still Camera's
> Wool Socks
> Raingear (gortex or rubberized)
> Gift Certificate to Ace Hardware, Arcata Coop, Costco or Picky, Picky, Picky
> Paid work for activists who come out of the woods
> Monetary donation can be made out to "Mattole Forest Defenders" and mailed to POB 28, Arcata, CA 95518.

People Needs
Please come to the Mattole for a few days and help defend the 3,000 acres of incredible old growth Doug-Fir forest. We prefer those with nonviolent direct action experience. Please call the hotline first at 707-441-3828. Come prepared for very wet, cold and snowy conditions. The hike to the Free State is over 12 miles. There is no basecamp so please call the hotline to get involved.

Please contact:
John Campbell, Pacific Lumber Co., 707-764-2222, FAX - 707-764-4269
Charles Hurwitz, Maxxam Corp, 713-975-7600, FAX- 713-952-4795

Ask them to hold off logging in the Mattole for one year so the community can assess and raise the funds to purchase the entire 14,000 acre holding. Also demand that they treat nonviolent activist as human beings and stop endangering their lives with falling trees.

For more information:
Direct Action: Mattole Forest Defenders,(VM) 707-441-3828
POB 28, Arcata, CA 95518
North Coast Earth First!, (VM) 707-825-6598
ncef [at] humboldt1.com
http://www.mattoledefense.org/
Images at http://www.earthfilms.org/
Article at http:/http://www.indybay.org/