Bridge Blockaded Twice in Humboldt by Forest Defenders

Last Tuesday and Thursday, Forest Defenders here in Humboldt county blockaded a bridge to stop Maxxam/Pacific Lumber(PL) companys cutting of an ancient Redwood and Douglas Fir forest known to us as “Avalon”. The forest, home to Marbled Murrelets and Spotted Owls and many other life forms, is above Grizzly Creek which is a tributary to the Van Duzen River.
The blockade on Tuesday consisted of a rope that was strung through a garden hose with rope protruding from each end of the hose. It was then tied in a big loop around the bridge and a hammok was hung from the loop. A forest-defending troll then climbed into the hammok which was about 30 ft. above a raging creek. After an hour of tearing apart slash-piles and moving rocks, the loggers were greeted with the sight of the hammok under the bridge and 16 people standing together above it in the rain. They retreated back up the road to a landing. A few hours later a Columbia passenger Helicopter took the loggers that work for Columbia, a multi-national logging contractor, and brought them too a landing that was past the blockade to log. They left the rest of the Loggers there. The only Cop that showed up was a CHP(California Highway Patrol) officer who said he appreciated what we were doing but that he was going to have to clear the bridge by the end of the day. He left soon after and we never saw him again After the Loggers went home that day the hammok was removed.
On Thursday we were back with 2 Trolls under the bridge , each in their own hammok. This day was even stormier than Tuesday and the Helicopter could not be flown. About 10 of us were there to support the Trolls and make sure that they had support. The loggers had no way in and left before noon. Richard Bettis, the companies “Land Manager”, showed up and acted like it was his pleasure to be spending the day with us out by Grizzly Creek. After a lot of small talk he left and then a sheriffs vehicle approached. Two sheriffs hopped out and asked, “Who wants to get arrested for trespassing?” Two men stayed on the bridge and got arrested while one woman went under the bridge and wedged herself in-between some logs and boulders. The rest of us stayed up the road at a safe distance to witness the situation. The sheriffs, with the help of Bettis and some loggers pried the woman out her position and put her on a stretcher in order to maneuver her up the slippery boulders. The Sheriffs were unable arrest anyone up the road and couldn’t reach a videographer who had climbed up a cliff above the road and was only able to stay there with the help of a bush. At least an hour after the sheriffs arrived, Carl Anderson (head of PL security) arrived with Climber Eric( who PL sends to remove treesiters and road blockaders from their perches)in his passenger seat. It took Climber Eric about half and hour to come up with a plan. He set a traverse from Carls truck that went lengthwise through a crack that ran down the center of the bridge. He was then in a position to do anything he wanted to the Trolls. After some consideration, the Trolls told Eric not to go any farther because they would come down. One Troll left his hammok and was arrested. The other did something unexpected. He rappelled down and landed in the ice-cold creek bare-foot with his backpack on. He got out of the water and started to make his way along the bank but a young Logger began to chase after him. The Logger was three feet away when the Troll jumped back into the creek to escape. He floated down to Grizzly Creek while the cold of the water made him gasp for breath and then emerged from the creek and burrowed into the thick Redwood forest duff having successfully evaded arrest.
There is ancient forest falling here in Humboldt county and we need more people to take a stand here (and everywhere) if we want to keep these forests from being cut.