Gate Action at Fox camp!

North Coast Earth First!
P.O. Box 28 Arcata, Ca. 95518
(707) 825-6598 Ph. (707) 825-7996 Fx.
ncef [at] humboldt1.com http://www.humboldt1.com/~ncef


For Immediate Release Friday, August 10, 2001

Contact: Naomi Wagner

707-629-3546
Protest at golden eagle site intensified

Four people were arrested in two separate incidences while protesting Maxxam/ Pacific Lumber's cutting of old growth Douglas Fir on timber harvest plan 386, also known as "Devil's Hole", in the upper north fork and the most unstable headwalls of the Mattole River Valley. This is the site where a baby golden eagle was found recently by fallers working in that clearcut. Company wildlife biologists had said the habitat was "unsuitable for raptors", and CDF had approved the plan without any scrutinization. The eaglet was rescued and later returned to the nest area where it was joined by its parent's and learned to fly. But logging continues in the unprotected eagle area with clearcutting of old growth up to the boundaries of Humboldt Redwoods State Park (HRMP).

At five thirty this morning, a group of watershed residents and local activists gathered at the Fox Camp Gate to talk to loggers and truckers about there concern, regarding the lack of surveys for golden eagles and the incidental take permit (ITT) for endangered species under the company's habitat conservation plan (HCP). They were also concerned about Maxxam/ PL's threat to log another timber harvest plan, THP 020 before Judge Wilson's decision is delivered.

Suddenly, an angry Wills truck driver accelerated abruptly and drove deliberately toward the group, scattering them and almost running them over.

"It was a really scary over reaction," said one resident witness, "and someone could have been hurt or killed. We were standing on public property, well within the assesment of Humboldt Redwood State Park and Bull Creek County officials," she said. Wills Trucking is a plaintiff in the company slap suit aimed against seventy Humboldt area activists.
During the threat of vehicular assault, one woman nearly temtped death when she slipped in front of the on-rushing truck as she tried to step aside. "Her head came within inches of the moving wheel before she was yanked to safety by others.
Protesters then moved their own vehicles into protective positions and continued their protest, holding singes that said; "hcp/syp lacking?", "land slide problems!," "CDF do your field work", and "no sediment, no herbicide."
By 8:30am 4 log trucks were lined up outside the gate and three more were waiting inside. When sheriffs arrived, the protesters agreed to move their vehicles but were then instructed by officers not to, thus blocking traffic further.
While waiting around, one young man, who refused to give his identify to officers, was wrestled to the ground, pepper sprayed, and subdued by actual numchuks. An older activist named Jack Nunin was arrested coming to the first mans aid. A third man was was arrested when he tried to report an assault to an officer. A company employee grabbed him in the State Park. Three men were arrested and jailed and two women were arrested and released for trespassing.
The night before, another man was arrested near an Old Growth Douglas Fir in Devils Hole where he had been living in the forest canopy to keep it standing. He was tackled and dragged by a man claiming to be an equipment operator and turned over to sheriffs. Shunka was charged with trespassing, vandalism, and felony possession of stolen property. Shunka, who was found with a "Parnum Timber pencil" which authorities are claiming links him to a hypothetical crime scene, denies the charges, citing his total commitment to non-violence, including no property damage. Activists in this Northern California area are well known for abiding by a code of non violence.