1/9: In a victory for Forest Activists in Humboldt County, the District Attorney has dropped all charges against 9 activists cited and released on October 24, 2001 while engaged in protests at the gate to the Hole in Headwaters logging plan. The activist maintain that they were doing nothing illegal having only engaged in friendly dialog with loggers on public property. The arrests were made by a security guard hired by Maxxam/PL who was backed by Carl Anderson, a former Sheriff, now head of security for PL/Maxxam. Sheriffs, who arrived at the gate, reportedly failed to investigate an incident where chain saw oil was thrown into an activist's car. Instead they took the word of the security guard without investigation and cited nine innocent activists, showing the bias against activist in the county by the Sheriff and DA. For now, a civil SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) suit filed by Maxxam/PL and PL subcontractors against the nine protesters remains in place.