Gypsy Mountain Press Release, 9/16/03...Call to action!

North Coast Earth First!

For immediate release
September 16, 2003
Contact:
Northcoast Earth First! (707) 268-5163
Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (510) 548-3113
Tree-sitter Turtle, cell phone in tree: (707) 834-2348

Logging Shut Down On "Gypsy Mountain" On Eve Of Anniversary Of The
Killing
Of Forest Activist David Gypsy Chain

Humboldt county, California--The day before the 5th anniversary of
the death of David Gypsy Chain, killed Sept.17, 1998 when an angry
logger felled a tree on him, Earth First! forest defenders arrived at
dawn as Pacific Lumber workers entered the logging plan that
activists hope to preserve as a memorial to the slain activist.
Activists are sitting in a grove of giant redwood trees in the plan,
including one tree close to the site where Gypsy was killed which has
been occupied for over five years.

The logging plan (Timber Harvest Plan HUM 01-382) is in the Grizzly
Creek watershed, nearly adjacent to Grizzly Creek Redwood State Park
on the Van Duzen River. PL loggers shut down the operation in late
morning, due to the presence of activists in the woods. The plan is
known to contain ancient redwoods.

There is a proposal to annex the forest area where David Chain was
killed to the nearby Grizzly Creek State Park system to preserve the
site and to protect critical habitat areas for the endangered marbled
murrelet.

September 17 will be commemorated at the memorial site (on Highway
36, just south of Eureka) by friends and colleagues of David Chain
who travelled to Humboldt county from as far away as Texas, where
Gypsy grew up. A candlelight vigil will take place at the memorial
site at dawn. A forest action camp is in progress at the State Park,
offering trainings for activists in non-violence, media work and
forest defense strategies.
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