Activists Block Logging Road in Defense of Mattole Wilderness

Humboldt County, CA - Forest activists staged a pre-dawn roadblock this morning at a gate that leads to old-growth forest in the Mattole wilderness. At 3:30am, a woman ascended a 35-foot mono pod – a single pole supported platform – at the entrance to Fox Camp Gate. Residents have seen an alarming number of old-growth logs pass through this main gate in recent weeks from logging by Maxxam’s Pacific Lumber. A banner erected over the gate called for immediate actions that need to be taken to stop the critical injury perpetrated on this wild area:

1. No Old-Growth Logging 2. No Clear-Cutting 3. No Cutting on Steep Slopes 4. No Herbicides

By 6:15am, logging trucks were backed up and loggers mixed with about twenty activists on the scene.

The activists have consistently spread a message that calls for the Texas-based Maxxam, who have violated at least 325 conservation laws in the last five years, including illegal logging of old-growth redwoods and destruction of water quality, to immediately change their ways.

Surrounded by mostly Douglas Fir and Madrone forest, activists climbed old-growth trees on mountain sides with more than 50% slope. Pacific Lumber/Maxxam has finalized plans to clear cut the area. Similar logging operations in the past have lead to critically silted rivers from landslides, leading to loss of salmon habitat, as well as harm to downstream residents.

Much of the old-growth Maxxam plans to cut would be protected by Senate Bill 754 - The Heritage Tree Preservation Act - currently under consideration in the Appropriations Committee of the California State Assembly. Activists are determined to keep the trees standing until this vital protective measure is in place.

"We are here to protect Heritage trees until the Heritage Tree Preservation Act can be passed" stated activists as they made their way up the threatened giants. They are urging California residents to call their Assembly representatives to urge Patty Berg, who is chairperson of this Committee, to support this legislation, which could preserve the last 2% of old-growth on non-federal lands.

One activist stated: "It is imperative to move on this now to save what's left for our children...for all future generations. Maxxam’s illegal and dangerous logging practices must stop if we want a healthy environment to live in."