Mattole Treesit Raided, Legal Updates 5/23/01

Mattole Treesit raided, 3 arrested
A treesit that bound together the old-growth
douglas-fir canopy of a progressing clearcut in the Mattole
was raided yesterday by Pacific Lumber security and the
Humboldt County Sheriffs. Climber Eric, counterpart to
infamous Pacific Lumber tree-climber Dan Collins, cut out
activist gear, slashed traverse lines and lowered a treesitter
from the canopy. The two other activist in the web of support
lines, traversed from tree to tree but to no avail. They
eventually made it to the ground and escaped, regrouping with
other activists nearby in the woods.
On Monday two other activist were arrested, one on the
ground and another who had climbed a tree to stop it's
felling. He could do nothing as loggers cut the other
unoccupied trees all around him. As the day wore into the
night and with no supplies he had little choice but to descend
into law enforcements waiting hands. As this process was
happening his support on the ground was manipulated and lied
to by Pacific Lumber loggers who claimed that "your friend in
the tree fell out and died". She was relieved to find out it
wasn't true but violence takes many forms including playing on
any human beings worst fears...
Their have been 33 arrests in the Mattole since
logging began on May 9th, 52 arrests since November. One
logger who engaged in conversation with an activist said
they'd be done with operations in a weeks time.

Activist Charge With Eight Felonies
David Werher, a nineteen year old activist from San
Francisco is being charged with eight felony counts of child
endangerment and eight misdemeanor counts of contributing to
delinquency of a minor by the Humboldt County District
Attorneys office for bringing underage students from San
Francisco up to Humboldt County to demonstrate in the Mattole.
Eight of these young adults were arrested Friday May 11th.
Most of these arrest were in a backwoods action that shut down
logging in a progressing clearcut on Long Ridge. The Humboldt
County Sheriff is alleging that these young adults faced
"potential bodily harm" by David for introducing them and
transporting them to the Mattole actions.
Sgt. Steve Knight has claimed "The juveniles were
apparently dropped off without sleeping bags, maps or
appropriate clothing near the Monument Road gate." In
actuality all the students who went into the Mattole had
proper gear, food supply, wilderness survival training and a
12 day backpacking trip under their belts. They were better
prepared than many adults who've trekked to the Mattole. All
had parental permission to come on the trip and participate in
demonstrations.
Many of these activists were arrested without their
gear and one young man was separated from the main forest
defender group for 24 hours after being chased by Sheriffs
deputies. Two young activists had sticks thrown at them by
Pacific Lumber loggers and endured heavy verbal violence.
Robin Kelley, mother of one of the 17yr old activist
was quoted in the Eureka Times-Standard as saying "Any danger
he was in was from the loggers, the police department and the
fish and game department. I think they came home more
courageous, angry at what's going on in the world."
These trumped up charges are an attempt to make a
scapegoat out of David, and smear our movement. He is a
caring, loving man who has no criminal record and hopes to
someday become a teacher. David had a surrender court date
yesterday and despite his strong charges, his lawyer was able
to convince the court to keep him out of jail until trial.

120 Day Sentence For Forest Defender
On Tuesday, Kim Starr and Jeff Nigham were found
guilty by a Humboldt County Jury for trespassing and resisting
arrest for their April 5th action in defending the Mattole
old-growth Both of these brave activist had locked down to a
junked car on Long Ridge that had blocked Maxxam access for
130 days. Jeff accepted a 30 day sentence and two years
probation. Kim refused probation and was sentenced to a
whopping 120 DAYS in the Humboldt County Jail! She will enter
jail on Friday morning after arranging her personnel affairs.
To this authors knowledge, never has a nonviolent
activist in Humboldt been sentenced to such a stiff jail stint
for ancient forest defense. Again it begs the question who
really should be on trial; nonviolent who risk their lives to
protect what fraction is left of our ancient forest ecosystem
or an outside Texas Corporation that continues to desecrate
Humboldt County at the expense of salmon, endangered species
and downstream residents.
Two other Mattole activist remain incarcerated, one
for a thirty day sentence for misdemeanor trespassing and the
other his second arrest on Maxxam land.
The present has not been kind to direct action
activists, perhaps history will look more favorably upon us...
We will provide addresses so our community can send Kim and
Jeff letters of support in jail...




Activists ask for human rights observers in Mattole

By James
Tressler
The
Times-Standard

EUREKA -- Several people on Tuesday urged the Humboldt County
Board of Supervisors to consider sending neutral human rights
observers to monitor logging protests in the Mattole.

Michael de Leon, a Garberville resident, was one of three
people who directly addressed the board during the public
appearances section of the meeting.

More than two dozen activists have been arrested on suspicion
of trespassing on Pacific Lumber Co.-owned land in the Mattole
over the past few months.

However, de Leon and the other speakers said protesters are
being harassed and assaulted by PL contractors.

"There's a crisis out there," de Leon told the board. He said
he had only anecdotal evidence, but it keeps adding up. He
also said Sheriff's deputies tend to ignore the alleged
harassment.

"The perception arises that police are acting as PL's security
force," he said.

The board considered sending an observer to the area earlier
this year, but rejected the idea in March.

Second District Supervisor Roger Rodoni, who represents the
area in question, said the board has no plans to take any
action.

Rodoni said the board dismissed the idea of sending an
observer to the property primarily because of liability
issues, such as trespassing on private property.

"And where are you going to find someone who's neutral?" he
asked.

Sheriff Dennis Lewis was not at the meeting, but Tuesday
afternoon disputed the activists claims. He said he has
received no information about the alleged harassment or of his
deputies looking the other way.

He said he would expect his deputies to "take appropriate
action" if they witnessed any crime being committed. If the
activists have a problem, they should show him proof.

"I'm not going to chase rumors," Lewis said.

Josh Brown, an organizer at Earth First, said an extensive
record has been compiled during the past few years, in
particular the case of David "Gypsy" Chain. Chain was killed
three years ago by a crashing tree. Activists claim the tree
was felled deliberately.

Brown, who has participated in the protests for about six
years, said a neutral observer is needed because often the
worst incidents occur in the "backwoods."

"It's just our word against theirs," he said.



Mattole Action Camp, Still Going On
Action Camp has been a success drawing more than seventy
forest defenders over the weekend. It will continue through
Thursday at the mouth of the Mattole river in Petrolia. A
scaled down encampment will likely continue past Thursday,
call 825-6598 for details. We need to train and educate
activist to defend the old-growth doug fir of the Mattole.
Trainings and skill sharing will include Non-Violence,
Backwoods, Legal, Climbing, THP Monitoring, Blockading and
more. Please bring camping gear, warm clothing, hiking
apparel, musical instruments, food and monetary donations for
the kitchen. Please No Dogs, Drugs, Alcohol or Bad attitudes.
Camp will open late Friday afternoon on the 18th and close the
24th, in time to head to the Sierras for the California EF!
Rendevous. Call (707)-825-6598 to RSVP, directions below
(please remember- driving distances are long and unfortunately
we don't have mileage.....)

From The North....
-South on the 101
-Ferndale exit
-turn right (heading north)
-left @ Creamery - go over bridge through Ferndale
-Go through Ferndale at the end of town turn left under
arching iron cast sign that says "Petrolia"
-Follow all the way to the coast (long and windy route)
-Drive through Petrolia
-Cross Mattole river
-Turn right on Lighthouse rd
-Follow Lighthouse road to end and look for "Action Camp"
signs
-Your there! Fill up with gas at highway 101 before heading to
Action Camp, gas cost twice as much in Petrolia.

From The South (Bay Area)...
-North on 101
-Exit at Redway/Garberville exit follow signs to Redway
-Take a left at the Iguana (restaurant) and follow signs to
Briceland and Lost Coast
-Follow signs to Honeydew (another long and windy country
road)
-Once In Honeydew take left fork to Petrolia, pass the
Honeydew Store
-Left on Lighthouse road (if you cross the bridge over the
Mattole and drive into Petrolia you've gone too far)
-Follow Lighthouse road to end and look for "Action Camp"
signs
-Your there! Fill up with gas at highway 101 before heading to
Action Camp, gas cost twice as much in Petrolia.

Call (707)-825-6598 with questions and updates..

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 humans beings and not endanger their
lives with falling trees.

Humboldt County Supervisor, Stan Dixon (707)-476-2391
Humboldt County Supervisor, Roger Rodoni (707)-476-2392
Humboldt County Supervisor, John Wooley (707)-476-2393
Humboldt County Supervisor, Bonnie Neely (707)-476-2394
Humboldt County Supervisor, Paul Kirk (707)-476-2395

Please call each of these Humboldt County Supervisor's them
how much of our taxpayer dollars they intend to spend
protecting Maxxam's logging of ancient forest in the Mattole.
Remind them that the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department is
not Maxxam's private security force and the protection of the
Mattole is supported by a majority of the citizens they
represent. Ask them to endorse a plan to have neutral
observers out in the Mattole to bore witness to any arrests
and to minimize potential violence.


Essential Mattole Forest Defender Needs
> Walky Talky's
> UHF/VHF radios
> Video Camera's
> Ground coffee (organic is preferred)
> Hydrogen Peroxide
> Chocolate (vegan if possible)
> Dried soup mixes
> Hummus & Falafel mix
> Organic oats & Rice
> Trail mix
> Tofu
> Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
> Dried fruit/raw nuts
> Fleece tops and bottoms
> Nokia 5100/6100 Cell phone batteries
> Bivy Sacs
> Sleeping Bags
> Waterproof Tarps (preferrably camo)
> Static Line
> Still Camera's
> Waterproof Hiking Boots
> Wool Socks
> Raingear (gortex or rubberized)
> Gift Certificate to Ace Hardware, Arcata Coop, Costco or
Picky, Picky, Picky
> Monetary donation can be made out to "North Coast Earth
First!" 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. Come
prepared for wet and cold conditions. The hike to the Free
State is over 12+ miles.

For more information:
Direct Action: *Mattole Forest Defenders
POB 28, Arcata, CA 95518
*North Coast Earth First!, 707-825-6598,
822-3771(fax)
ncef [at] humboldt1.com
*Bay Area Coalition For Headwaters
(510)-835-6303
http://www.mattoledefense.org/
Images at http://www.earthfilms.org/
Article at http:/http://www.indybay.org/