Activists Block Logging Road in Defense of Mattole Wilderness

Activists Block Logging Road in Defense of Mattole Wilderness

Humboldt County, CA - Forest activists staged a pre-dawn roadblock this
morning 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."

In addition to this roadblock, another took place on Rainbow Ridge, deep in the Mattole wilderness. Two women locked themselves inside a white, decommissioned bus that had been affixed across a logging road leading to several Timber Harvest Plans. Pacific Lumber trucks arrived at the scene about 4:30am, and then left when they realized they couldn’t get through. Police arrived on the scene between 8:30 – 9:00am. Despite intense heat pounding on the bus, police refused to supply the women with water. They were eventually arrested and taken to the Humboldt County jail.